Knighted
by TheLastPilot
Summary: The Kingdom of Aquitani is famous for its values and strength, and that strength is best represented in the daughters of the royal Cesaire family. However, it's three daughters can be more than a bit of a handful for the guards in charge of protecting them, and young Royal Guard Nino Lahiffe seems to be the only one with half a chance.
1. Chapter 1

There were rarely days of turmoil in the Kingdom of Aquitani. Wars were fought and won by the valiant fierce hearted people who lived there, led by their royal family to victory time and time again. It was not without hardship, but Nino often felt that it held more blessings than curses. Perhaps he was just optimistic, but it was hard not to be. He had had more than his fair share of blessings in a very short time.

It was high morning in late summer when his aching feet felt the firm path of a cobbled road again. His simple shoes were nearly worn through without the benefit of a horse all this way, but he had been determined. Now after nearly a month of a travel he was here… he could only hope his arrival would not go overlooked.

Despite his exhaustion Nino continued to move forward, shifting the weight of his pack and nervously adjusting his appearance. There wasn't much he could do to improve the threadbare farmhand garb he wore but he tried, picking at dried… who knew what it could be that had stained the left pant leg. The hard leather and cold metal of his simple scabbard tapped at his knuckles as he did, and he found some reassurance in it. The sword sold him apart… it named him as more than just a farmhand. He could fight, he HAD fought. Its why he was here.

Nino looked up from his nervous picking, swallowing nervously as he followed the path to see two well-armed guards standing watch on either side of the city's main entrance. They stood tall and serious, their armor well-made and their postures practiced as they went about their business. They stopped carts and travelers, asking questions and allowing them entrance, keeping a careful eye. Maybe that's where they'd put him. Guard duty. Made sense, everything was a form of guard duty in the… well, the guard. But the entrance, perhaps they'd put him there, or was that too important? It was a very important job, what if someone dangerous tried to sneak in? Then again is was impossible to gauge everyone's intentions, so a difficult one as well. Likely too important… maybe a smaller door. A less important door.

He'd probably be guarding a storehouse, actually. He couldn't help but huff a bit bitterly as he looked over the two men on watch, forced to slow as they spoke with everyone ahead of him also seeking to gain entrance. Look at these guys. Lanky, snide, shallow faced noble boys, likely got in because of name and title. Not like him, he earned it. He was _rewarded_ with it. But he was no one, no grand family name, just someone who fought well and with everything he had. They all said that the royal family was fair and kind, that skill was rewarded over name. But still, it could be to appease the public… he'd probably guard a storehouse somewhere. Pride be damned if he didn't guard the shit out of that store house though.

He moved slowly with the line, looking over the established guards and becoming less and less impressed by the second, though he couldn't let that show. He didn't know them, maybe they had earned it too, but probably not.

It had been two months ago now when he had intervened in something that wasn't his business. He had acted on instinct, grabbing a weapon and charging off to aide a passing nobleman caught in a raid. He had never met the nobleman before in his life or even seen him, but the circumstance compelled them to fight together and as equals. One was not above the other, though their class would never say as much. In the moment they fought to survive, and against all odds, they had won.

So here he had been rewarded. An elevation in class that most people in their life would never have the chance to see. Because he did the right thing and he did it well… his entire life might be different.

The passing son of a great leader had thanked him so profusely for his help and held his skill so highly that maybe he shouldn't have been surprise when he suddenly suggested that he earn a place in the guard, but he had been regardless. That kind of thing was rare, beyond rare. A good portion of the kingdom viewed it as blasphemy, always rubbed the wrong way whenever the royal family would reward someone with the honor. However, he had assured him it was possible, saying he held enough weight in the royal home to at least have it considered.

Nino had honestly thought the guy was full of it, he seemed nice enough certainly, but rich people just didn't do poor people like that favors regardless of any kind of life saving. But he couldn't deny that he had come this far on faith that he had meant it…

If he could really become situated as a guard in the _royal_ city everything would be different. He'd have a wage, a proper living that wasn't dictated by the seasons or subject to bandits or raiders. He'd have authority, and a way to actually send money home to his family. And he'd be able to protect people.

Nino had been assured that the nobleman would be waiting for him in the castle town, that his place had already been secured, but it didn't feel real yet. He had some kind of hope though, looking again at the two unimpressive guys now checking through the bags of the woman directly in front of him. He didn't need a grand place, just any place, any job. He'd guard the mid-town, he'd guard the prison cells. Just anything stable enough to support his family through the winter. If these guys could do it he certainly could.

Nino stood up a little straighter as the woman in front of him was allowed through the gate, and he found himself under the direct attention of the two guards whose position he envied. He was being a little petty, sure, but some part of him knew they looked at him and saw a farmhand. He wanted them to see that he was just as good as they were, birthrights be damned.

The taller of the two guards stepped forward, his expression bored at first but sharpening as he looked at the poor farmer traveling on his own. He didn't hold himself like a farmer, but he was clearly used to physical labor. The guard first noticed the careful challenge in the boy's expression, and then he noticed the sword.

"What have you got there then?" the tallest guard asked, taking the hilt of his spear and tapping somewhat rudely at the scabbard on the boy's hip.

"A sword," Nino answered simply, intending to leave it at that before looking at the gate before him and seeming to reconsider being flippant. "I came from a long way away, it would have been stupid to try and go that far without protection."

The tallest guard nodded a bit in acknowledgement, but the second spoke up with a mean hearted chuckle.

"You sure you know how to use it son? Wouldn't have done you any good if you swung it like a woodcutter's axe."

The second guard thought he was pretty funny, laughing loudly at his own joke even though the first seemed to realize that they were being rude at this point when Nino visibly squirmed at the insult. The tallest guard cut in, looking briefly through Nino's pack without asking before saying, "You're all clear son. Head on through, but if you unsheathe that weapon within the city walls you'll be cut down, understand? We won't take it from you, but threaten anyone with it and you'll be jailed at best."

"Yes sir I understand," Nino answered quickly, shooting a glare at the more pathetic of the two who was still chuckling to himself before settling the weight of his pack again. He stepped between the guards as they turned their attention to a traveling merchants cart behind him, and even though he was somewhat annoyed he still felt a spark of excitement as he was allowed to approach the gate. There wasn't anyone in his way anymore.

His pace quickened and he hurried to cross the threshold, sidestepping through the opening in the heavy wooden doors. And just like that a wave of sound reached him, and he was walking along the cobbled main road of Aquitani's largest city.

He couldn't help the breathless laugh that escaped him, moving even faster now as he looked around excitedly. He made it a handful of steps before he was suddenly wading through a thick crowd, and the sound of his laugh was lost in the sounds of the city.

Merchants stood by large overflowing carts of goods, parked about anywhere there was a free space on the city's main and thus most trafficked road. People of every class and color rifled through purses and counted their coins in chattering groups as they looked over the cloths, spices, medicines and tools for sale all around them. Chickens screeched from their cages, bakers sold families their daily supplies of bread, children darted after stray dogs scrounging for scraps, horses milled uncomfortably through the throngs of people and carts. It was more crowded and lively then anything Nino had ever seen, and he loved it instantly.

"Travelers welcome here!"

"You look like you know a good sword when you see one sir, come look at my wares!"

"A whole brood of chickens for sale young man, the perfect thing for getting settled!"

The merchants called out for his attention as he loitered for a moment absorbing his surroundings so he was quick to deny them, picking up the pace to escape their line of sight. He barely had enough for even one night at an inn he couldn't afford to be talked into buying anything they had.

He hurried further down the road, quickly jumping to the side to avoid an agitated horse and dodging down a side street, laughing aloud as he got lost between the tall reaching homes and businesses around him.

He had lived his entire life in a village of a hundred people, maybe even less. This was _nothing_ like that, nothing like anything he had ever experienced.

So in the building heat of a high summer morning, Nino Lahiffe made his way through the winding roads and bustling life of the city, heading ever towards the distant image of the castle of the royal family.

"Your majesty, as a sign of good will from my father I had been asked to make my way to your kingdom where I may be of service to you in your court, but as I told you when I first arrived I would not have made it alive if I had not been helped by a valiant citizen of one of your outer territories. He charged in without seeking reward and he fought with great skill and calm, attributes that, if I understand correctly, you hold in high regard for your personal guard. This is the man I spoke of, and I present him with complete confidence."

Nino could not see much from his position, and while his bravery was being applauded he fought to keep his hands from shaking. He locked his eyes to the deep crimson carpet he knelt on, desperately trying to remember every ounce of etiquette he had ever been taught in his life. Anything he had however could only be applied to the head of a household, he had absolutely no idea how to behave here. Throughout the weeks it took to travel here he had never once entertained the notion of standing in the throne room. He had expected to be presented at most to the head of the guard, to a Captain or a something similar, tested to see if he should join. He had never once believed he would find himself kneeling before the throne, losing his wits at the feet of the king.

As much as he owed Adrien everything in that moment he also had a fair string of profanities for him that he kept silent for fear of death.

He hadn't signed up for this! What if he said the wrong thing?! What if he disrespected him?! What was being asked of him here, he thought he was guarding a _door_ , why was the king involved?!

Nino kept his place, his eyes never straying past Adrien's well-kept boots. This is what he got for saving a rich boy in the woods, he did this to himself.

His thoughts twisted and panicked as Adrien continued to detail exactly what had happened, embellishing a few things in Nino's favor, he noticed. However, all thought stopped dead when Adrien fell silent and the King spoke again.

"You make it all sound so impressive," the king chuckled, the sound of it deep and… personable. "You certainly owe this young man your life, but I'm impressed you would go to such lengths to see him honored."

There was a short silence where no one spoke, the king posing a question without even having to ask it. Nino had to admit… he had wondered it too. He didn't know him, nothing past a few days of offering him a place to stay and a helping hand through the raid. Yet here was this nobleman again, doing his damnedest to follow through on his word for a farmhand he could have just as easily dismissed. And here was Nino, who had trusted him enough to follow his lead.

Nino's head turned slightly to listen as Adrien spoke again, and when he dared to look up he saw that he was looking at him, smiling kindly. He looked down to him, not down at him.

"I know it seems unusual your majesty, but you're right, I owe him my life." Adrien spared Nino another moments glance before smiling and looking away, smoothing his elegant courtroom clothing with a single hand before continuing as he addressed the king. He stood tall and confidently, and in that moment Nino admired him.

"My father is a powerful man with an expansive guard of his own. I was raised on the idea of the deserving and the undeserving as I was taught to one day inherit what he owned, and there were ways that things were always done. The noble families would train their sons to fight, and they would serve the guard. And the strongest sons of the strongest families would be named Knights, always. It didn't matter if they were cruel or selfish, it mattered that they were loyal. I never had the confidence to contradict my father, but I can say now that I always believed that was wrong. I had no place to say this, I knew nothing of command, but then I heard about your kingdom sire."

"I heard rumors of your way of rewarding the deserving, and the attributes you looked for in your own guards. Your value on bravery, loyalty, skill and calm made your armies stronger than your most fearsome enemies. And it was in this kingdom alone that it was possible to be deserving of the right to the royal crest without being born to it. It was possible that someone who worked hard enough, fought hard enough, and lived with enough virtue could be a knight, regardless of where they came from."

Adrien looked down again and saw that Nino had affixed his gaze to the floor, absorbing his words and unsure of what to do with them. The King was watching the commoner kneeling before him, listening to his valued member of court. So Adrien continued.

"It is still rare, even here, for a citizen to earn a place in the castle, and it is true that I have never known this man before. But when I saw him fight your majesty I thought of all that you strive to uphold in your fine kingdom. He reminded me of its virtues and what really sets this land apart from kingdoms like my fathers. We fought together as equals, and it did not feel out of place. The fact that I have gone this far to see my promise to him through should speak to how much I believe this. I know it may seem odd to you sire, but I can say with absolute confidence that I have never seen someone more deserving of a chance to prove himself in my life. All I ask is that you give him one."

The throne room fell quiet, and after a moment the king looked back to Adrien, analyzing the young man as he stood before him. What he saw was someone of noble birth defending someone of humble standings, putting aside what class said they should be and saying what he believed to be right. To see the son of Gabriel defy everything his father must have taught him about what every person was worth… the king could not help but feel hope.

Nino was terrified and confused and grateful and- a thousand things. He didn't deserve Adrien's faith or praise, he didn't deserve an opportunity like this, but _god_ he wanted it. He wanted to deserve it so badly. He wanted to prove himself to everyone, to Adrien, to the king, to the guards at the gate. He wanted it, he _wanted_ to deserve it.

He knelt there on the crimson carpet and tried desperately to steady his breathing, but it caught in his throat as the king suddenly spoke again.

"Young man, you may stand."

Nino swallowed, fear climbing in his chest but he forced himself to obey, understanding now that the king's word was law. He had to abide by it absolutely. Even though he was terrified he slowly rose, and looked into the king's face for the first time.

He was an older man with dark skin and a heavy dark beard, his eyes a light brown and surrounded with laugh lines. He was solidly built and sitting forward on his throne, an elegantly carved darkwood chair inlaid with gold and designs of polished amber. He was a man who commanded great power, and though his visage was kind he also exuded the expectation of respect. In a moments observation Nino was struck by the openness of his expression, the King observing him now but not looking down upon him.

He was standing before a king, yet he wasn't made to feel inferior. The elder man's position in the room was held because others respected him, not because he felt he deserved it…

It left him in awe.

The king surprised the two young men by standing, stepping away from his throne and standing at the edge of the dais his throne rested upon. Out of instinct both the noble and the commoner bowed their heads, showing their respect as Nino was regarded. The king waited, until hesitantly the farm hand raised his head again, unsure of what he was expected to do. When the king met his eyes, he smiled.

He gestured towards Adrien with a nod, the weight of his crown remaining fixed in place as he addressed Nino directly once again.

"Adrien Agreste is a very respected member of my court, sent here to learn from our practices by his father, who is an important ally. I believe it shows how much he has learned that he was able to see so clearly the values of my kingdom in you before he had even arrived to properly take his place. And now that you stand before me… I must say, that Adrien's judgement has not swayed."

Nino stiffened in surprise, his heart hammering in his chest as he saw Adrien grin from the corner of his eye. The king chuckled kindly.

"I can see it in your face that you are more surprised than any of us to be standing here. You are humble as well, it would seem. What is your name?"

Nino swallowed again, taking the extra moment to ensure his voice would not shake before answering. "Nino Lahiffe, sire."

The king nodded, presumably having already been told but wanting to hear him speak nonetheless.

"I would like to ask you personally, then." The king leveled him with another gaze, wanting to be looking in the eye as he was answered. "Do you believe you deserve to be honored with a place in the guard, title-less though you are?"

Nino hesitated, aware that Adrien was watching him just as intently as the king. He was locked in to his gaze and he could feel his knees shaking, but he had to answer. The king had asked him a question.

"No sire," he answered after a moment, fighting to keep his voice strong as he said, "But I can swear to you that should I be in your service, I would do everything I could to earn it."

There was a heavy silence that followed his words, and internally he panicked that he had spoken too strongly or said something wrong, but he had no idea what else he could say. It was what he believed. He wanted to earn it, he wanted to deserve it, and he would work tirelessly until he had.

The silence stretched on and he did not look away from the King, struck again by the man's power as he stood before his throne, the chamber soaked in heavy summer light and the ghosts of a thousand defining moments for this kingdom.

Executions had been ordered from exactly where he stood, honors bestowed and heroes knighted. And for Nino, this held as much weight as any of those moments. Because this was his moment.

Nino watched as the king smiled down at him and felt his heart leap in hope when the king finally spoke again.

"Then I should think, young man, that you deserve your chance to prove yourself. With as highly as you are being held I believe you would be wasted in the city guard, no… I shall like to see what you achieve myself. So you will stay within the castle.

At Adrien's recommendation you will be given a place among the Royal Guard."


	2. Chapter 2

"This is where you'll be staying," the servant said suddenly, stopping so abruptly that Nino was forced to pull back to keep from hitting him. The short boy looked up at him with an even expression, but Nino could see the slight smile threatening to break through his practiced neutrality. "These are the guards' rooms," he went on the explain, his smile growing, "you have a place in there. I believe there is an empty bed in the farthest room down on the right hand side."

Nino nodded, looking around him into what seemed to be a long row of modest sleeping chambers, three or so beds to a room each. From what he could see there were also sizable areas for armor, clothing and weapons, kept separate from the sleeping quarters.

"Can I say sir," the servant spoke again, drawing Nino's attention back down to the boy who for the first time was smiling freely. He hesitated to continue, looking around himself before saying, "To see someone like myself join the guard… well," he grinned, "It's a sight to see. If there is anything you need, anything at all, I can't imagine a single servant in the castle who would not be quick to help you."

Nino blinked once before he felt that same light excitement in his chest, fueling his smile as he reached out to clap the boy on the shoulder.

"Thank you," he replied genuinely. He looked around himself a bit nervously before laughing, saying, "The support makes me a lot more comfortable, actually. I'm expecting a lot of fallout from the other guards. I can't imagine many of them would be happy about me barging in."

The serving boy gave him another bright smile, returning the familiar gesture as he said, "Don't let any of them tell you that you don't belong there. Do it for all of us, yeah?"

"I will, I promise. Thank you for showing me here."

"Anytime, sir," he added the title with a smile, clearly glad to use it even if Nino was unsure what to do with it. So instead the new guard bowed his head in thanks and stepped inside, leaving the servant to go about his business as Nino found his way to his room.

The guards' area was simple and had little of note, each room small and crowded but well kept. He continued walking, moving around a few scattered things like belts and twisted metal from casual fireside repairs in the main room. He couldn't help it, even though he knew he was going to catch a lot of crap, he couldn't help but start to feel excited.

He walked down the narrow hall and stopped at the door to the last room, hesitantly knocking once to make sure it was as empty as everything else was at the moment before opening it.

It was a simple room with enough space for four beds pushed up into each corner with a chest for personal affects beneath each.

The beds themselves were a lot nicer than what Nino was used to, but likely still seen as modest by most of the people here who used them. The sheets of three of the beds looked used and he could see that the chests were either scratched from movement or ajar from its contents, betraying that they were in use. However, the fourth bed to the immediate right of the door was left alone, dull from gathered dust. Its chest was left open and empty save a lost button and other such useless trash, so Nino took the safe assumption that this space would be his.

He had honestly been expecting a little more, most of the guard were the sons of noblemen but… well they were effectively a standing army he supposed. There were quite a few royal guards charged with keeping the castle, they'd take up a lot of room fast if their quarters were as lavish as the court members.

He smiled at the use of 'their' and 'they', his heart leaping at every mention of the collective, because he was _a part_ of the collective. He was a guard, a **royal guard**. Prejudice be damned… he didn't care what anyone said to him. This was his bed, and he was going to earn it by putting everything he had into this job.

He didn't hesitate to kneel down and pull his pack from his back, starting to separate some things and putting them in the chest as was appropriate. He separated his admittedly light purse and placed it in his pocket and he smoothed out the sheets of his bed and coughed a bit at the dust it raised, tossing them to throw a majority of the dust and dirt off to the side to collect against the wall.

As he worked his thoughts wandered, caught up in how surreal it felt to be standing there at all…

The dust from his newly claimed bed swirled in the heavy light filtering through the single window across from the door, and part of him wondered if he looked out of place there. After a moment his hand trailed absently to his sword, gripping the hilt lightly as he stared at nothing.

He felt out of place… naturally. He had never been in a castle before, let alone lived in one… but here he was.

He stood tall and still, illuminated by the light of the window. The sun's rays washed over the city, over the castle and over the armored men who guarded it. It fell over peasants, kings, fighters, and nomads, and it too fell on him.

Without saying a word he pulled his sword from its sheath, laying the flat of the blade across his hands and watching it shine in the light. It was an amateurs weapon; one he had traded for in the town he had grown up in. He knew it was likely to be replaced, but he respected it for where it had gotten him. If he hadn't trained with it every day and fought with it when necessary, he never would have made it here…

It didn't feel deserved… not yet. Nino didn't understand what had compelled Adrien to say what he had, but when he had heard it it didn't sound hollow or forced. Somehow it was really what he had believed… and Nino wanted to earn that too, he wanted to earn all of it. Adrien had seen some kind of potential in him, enough to bring him here… it made him wonder if he was meant for something grand. Or perhaps not, not everyone had an epic destiny… but something important.

The way the servant had looked at him as he escorted him to his rooms, knowing him to be a member of the royal guard… maybe that was why. If his presence in the castle could give hope and faith to the people who never thought they would see the day… then perhaps that was important enough. So he had to work hard, to prove to himself that he was just as good as well as to prove it to everyone else. And _for_ everyone else.

Perhaps that was important enough…

He was pulled from his thoughts very suddenly, the sound of armored boots approaching startling him. He hurried to sheathe his sword again, somewhat nervously patting dust from his pant legs as he heard the door to the main area open, and the sound of three or so men enter mid-conversation.

"That's what I heard anyways, do you think it's true?"

"Must be," said the second, the words accompanied by the sound of someone sitting heavily at one of the tables. "It was the king's messenger that said it, which means it was probably the king who sent it out. Hard to believe though."

"It's ridiculous," scoffed the third, his voice heavy and mean spirited. "What the hell does this mean for us if they just let any crap with a sword stand guard in the castle? The city guard I'd pass, but _here_?"

Nino bristled, hesitating to step out now that he knew the conversation was about him but nearly compelled to reveal himself now that he saw how it was. However, before he could step out the first voice spoke again.

"I highly doubt he's just a regular commoner. Why the hell would the king bother if it wasn't anyone of note? If he's some commoner from an outlying territory AND the king saw to the matter himself I'm guessing he means business."

The second hummed in agreement, sounding as if he was adjusting some bit of his armor. "Yea, if they managed that then I'm bettin' it's someone you wouldn't want to scrap with. I'd like to see what he's made of."

They murmured and trailed off, and Nino felt a little childish hiding in his room like he was. So far the impression in the guard was, from what numbers he had, two thirds 'Let's wait and see' and one third outright refusal. That was a lot better than he was expecting to be completely honest, so it seemed stupid to just try and wait it out till they left. After only a moment's more hesitation he adjusted his sword to be held closely to his side, and with one hand he swung the door open, stepping out into the hallway.

He avoided looking at them at first, closing the door behind him before walking out towards the main room. They had noticed he was there the second they had seen movement, and when he cleared the hallway he got a clean look at all of them since they had turned fully to regard him.

There were three of them as he had guessed before, and it was fairly easy to peg which voice belonged to who. The first one was still standing, a man who was slightly shorter than himself and sporting a closely shaved beard and long, tied back brown hair. The second was sitting and adjusting the shoulder attachment of his armor, looking up at him from his seat but was likely pretty tall, if Nino had to guess. His hair was a bit unusual, a majority of it dark but the longest tuft of it in the front unnaturally blonde in a way he likely achieved with dye of some kind. He was thick chested, but not nearly as much so as the third.

The third man was sitting as well, standing now as Nino approached and revealing he was a full head shorter. His chest was as round and thick as a barrel and the sneer on his face betrayed him as the guard who had some less than kind things to say about his recruitment.

All three of them were wearing the same outfit and armor set, as all guards did within the castle walls. A thick blue clothing set to take the weight of their shining armor, the long vibrant cloth tied beneath the shoulder guard a deep royal purple and bearing the crest of the Césaire Family who they were sworn to serve. Nino felt a kind of pressure as they all looked him over at once, but he stood firm, looking towards the first guard as he addressed him.

"Well if I had to guess I'd say you were the man of the hour," he said simply, stepping around the table to get a better look at him. "You're the farm boy right?"

Nino paused, not sure how to respond without outright starting a fight. He settled for, "I was, yeah."

The guard smiled, his teeth perfectly white and demeanor charming, probably. It came off as a bit snake like to Nino but he didn't sense any real hostility. Only the kind of slant that comes from naturally thinking you're better than someone else.

"I'm Dawlyn," he said simply, holding out a hand to shake. Nino hesitated for a second but thought better of leaving him hanging, not wanting to be rude if he wasn't going to be.

"Nino," he replied, letting the contact drop and not missing how Dawlyn made a not so subtle attempt to keep the handshake firm, but Nino was pleased he hadn't faltered at all. It was clear these guys were sizing him up.

Dawlyn gestured to his left, pointing first to the second guard who had now fixed whatever fault was in his armor, then to the third.

"This is Kim and Rodney. We just came in off our shifts at the armory. We only just heard, pretty impressive you know," he said with a grin, his tone still a little superior. "Not every day someone bottom class gets an audience with the king."

Nino hesitated again, hedging his bets and thinking his sentences through before replying. "It was an honor to be considered for the guard by the king himself. His Majesty has put his faith in me, I have no intention of letting him down."

Rodney scoffed aloud but the other two raised their eyebrows, shooting a glance at each other. It was kind of intimidating; they were right to have been wary of him. The new guy was young but he looked strong, and the rumor had been true that the king had picked him himself. Why?

Nino was fighting to keep the smile from his face, pleased with the effect of his words. He'd rather the other guards be intimidated by him then superior like Rodney.

"So why you?" Kim cut in suddenly, shifting from his seat on the bench to angle his body towards Nino. "If the king is picking from outside the noble families there's got to be a reason. What made you stick out then?"

Nino turned towards Kim and examined his expression for a second time, deciding he liked that he saw there more than he did with Dawlyn. At most Kim was jockish, challenging him and wanting to know what made him so special. That, at least, he could respect.

"I was recommended by a member of the court; Sir Agreste had been moving through the area I lived in when he was attacked. I helped him get out of the situation alive despite the fact that we were outnumbered ten to one and he was impressed enough that he recommended me for an audience. Now I'm here," Nino summarized offhandedly, not really wanting to justify himself. Dawlyn was nodding, Rodney was muttering something likely to be rude under his breath but Kim seemed impressed, standing as well and extending a hand to shake.

"If however you fought was impressive enough to land you here then whatever," he said simply, shaking Nino's hand roughly. "But when it comes time for sparing I'm first in line, you got it?"

Kim grinned at him happily, pleased with his scheduled fight and Nino was forced to nod in agreement though he didn't really like the idea of lining up fights within the first conversation. He didn't want to get his ass kicked and end up losing a lot of respect, but if he won it could have the opposite effect. Worth doing, he supposed.

"If you're settled you'll probably want to get to talking with the captain," Dawlyn spoke up, nodding towards the door. "They were in the armory last we saw when they got the message that you were around, so they'll probably be looking for you."

"Oh, right," Nino answered, having been wondering where exactly he was supposed to be next. "Um, where is that? Just, point me in the right direction."

"Follow the exterior hall around the castle," Kim interrupted before Dawlyn could say anything, gesturing a thick armored hand in a sweep of motion that followed what he knew to be the farthest walls of the fortress. "You'll see the training grounds first then the armory next. Just ask any guards if you can't find it, I bet they all want a chance to talk to you anyways."

"Better hurry," Rodney spoke up darkly, probably intending on returning to shit talking the second Nino was out of earshot. "Captain doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Thanks. I'll be going then." Nino squared his shoulders and didn't waste any time with retaliating against Rodney's sour attitude. He had a point about not keeping the captain waiting, they were essentially his boss. Best not to linger.

Kim nodded, turning to sit again and thoroughly over the appeal of the new guy. Dawlyn stayed standing, watching Nino leave and waiting a little while after he had gone before saying, "Interesting guy… Wonder how long he'll last."

* * *

Otis Césaire was a fair king, and though perhaps in his rule he had never been overtly adored by his people, he had always been respected. His kingdom had seen both hard times and great boons, and despite his constant fear that he wasn't doing right by his people his queen would always reassure him, lending him her calm voice through every struggle. However, even in times of peace Marlena's voice was always a relief to hear.

"You've caused a stir," the queen suddenly spoke, drawing her husband's attention from where he was lost in thought in their chambers, languishing over a weight stack of documents on his desk. He audibly sighed at the sight of her, glad for the distraction from his taxing work.

Marlena stood in the open doorway, her hands folded against her stomach as she stepped forward with a gentle smile. She was dark skinned, though not so dark as her husband, and her dark eyes shined as she spoke again, reaching up absentmindedly to toy with the loose bun of her hair.

"I go out for the day and return to see everyone gossiping. What's happened now?"

"Has it really caused that much of a fuss?" Otis huffed, shaking his head and sighing again. "I had hoped that the guard would be more open minded by now." The king looked past his wife, noticing that the door had been left open behind her with a pair of guards standing watch. He waited until it had been closed to continue, standing away from his desk to greet his wife.

"I added a new guard to the castle is all, it has only gained so much attention because he isn't from one of the noble families."

Marlena paused, her fingers lingering with the dark strands of her hair caught between each. "A commoner? The one Adrien met then, I'm assuming."

"Yes, he arrived a bit earlier than we thought he would. They'll get over it, I'm sure. I saw him myself, he seems admirable. He's untrained but he has potential, I saw no reason to deny him. There are bigger things to consider right now."

"Yes, of course," Marlena agreed, sobering somewhat at the hint of heavier topics. She watched as the weight of things unsaid settled on her husband's shoulders, and with a twinge of discomfort for the stress he must be under she tried to commend him.

"It's a good decision, especially now. For the people to see someone of their own standing move up in the castle, it matters to them. Having that kind of encouragement will be important."

"Yes…" the king agreed, occupied with other thoughts. Silence fell and it took the gentle pressure of his wife's hand on his shoulder to remind him he must be worrying her.

There was so much that could not be done yet, obsessing over it now would accomplish nothing.

"How are the girls?" Otis asked abruptly, changing the subject and offering his wife a smile. He grinned at her pout, not entirely happy with his deflection, but after a moment she decided to indulge him.

"I checked in on the little ones just before coming. Etta and Ella have been having fun with their new lessons, they are finding it more of a game then Alya did at their age, which is a relief." She laughed a little, shaking her head at old memories as she started to redo her bun properly now. "It might also have to do with the fact that they get to do them together, so they enjoy it more."

"Did Alya enjoy the trip?" Otis asked somewhat eagerly, searching his wife's expression. To his dismay her lips tightened, and in unison they both sighed.

"What's happened?" he groaned.

"Nothing new," Marlena answered, sounding a little exasperated but trying to be understanding. "I don't know how things turned out this way, she's exhausted with politics already."

"It _is_ exhausting," Otis allowed, but he frowned. "Still, if she is going to be a ruler one day she- **we** have to reign in her- her-…" he seemed at a loss for how to describe it, and in a sudden gesture said, "her _rebellious_ antics."

"Oh try and understand dear," the queen defended, smiling in a motherly sort of way as she thought of her eldest daughter. "She was an only child for quite a long time, she grew up with the singular expectation of being a princess. She's young still, it's natural for her to want her freedom."

The king grumbled a bit, reaching up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "And knowing how hard headed she can be she'll be sure to get it. Her strength is _perfect_ to be queen, but her **stubbornness** will be her ruin."

"She won't be ruling anytime soon Otis," Marlena comforted him, her voice soft. "We are both in good health, and caring for the twins has done a lot to balance her out. She still has a lot to learn, but we also still have the time to teach it to her. It will be alright."

The king glowered and seemed intent on pouting, but one look at his wife's sincerely gentle expression was enough to reassure him, it always was.

He reached out for her and pulled his queen into an embrace, gaining strength from holding her and finding it easier not to worry so much. Marlena was right… they still had time, and he could not dramatically say that she was hopeless, not at all. Alya had everything it took to be queen and lead with pride, but her temper of refusal to _ever_ concede could mark trouble for her and her kingdom. What seemed like simple disobedience now meant much larger things for an heir to the throne. In some ways it was unfair… she was not allowed the leniency of a normal child, but she wasn't a normal child.

She was a princess. One of which a lot was expected.

"You're right dear, always are," he said after a while, pulling away enough to look at her face. "I just worry about her."

Marlena laughed immediately, the sound warm and full of humor as she said, "Our Alya is the kind of person who doesn't need anybody whatsoever worrying out her in the slightest, yet desperately worries everyone around her regardless."


	3. Chapter 3

There were a lot of things that were difficult to adjust to in his new life; a few things he had expected, and a handful he hadn't been prepared for in the slightest. In the whole scheme of things he had _never_ expected to make it to the castle or ever have an audience with the king. He had been thinking that he was just going to be taken to the captain of the guard and be assigned to door duty, simple and done.

Now, that _had_ happened, just with a few more grandiose things ahead of it then he had been ready for. Fairly immediately after setting himself up in his room he _did_ get to meet the captain of the guard and he _did_ get assigned to guard a door. It was just the captain of the **royal** guard, and it was a much bigger door.

And also the captain was a woman, which was a surprise. And a five-foot-tall pink haired woman at that.

Nino was knocked clean from his train of thought by a rather sudden and brutally vicious blow to the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and bringing him to his knees. He planted his hands down hard, dropping his sword and clutching at the thick blue cloth of his unarmored guard's uniform with one gloved hand, fighting to get his breath back as he heard the captain shout out to him.

"ON YOUR FEET LAHIFFE, where do you get off taking a hit like that!? Quit your daydreaming, you're on first spar!"

Nino dragged in a harsh breath through his teeth, groaning a bit as he looked up and across the training courtyard to see Alix Kubdel, sitting up high on a retired stack of training dummies with an amused grin on her face.

"Yes mam'," he wheezed, fumbling for his sword and trying to ignore the guards laughing around him. He just stood as best he could and got his bearings again, taking a look around as his unit prepared for that days sparring run.

It was late summer, practically the end of it now, and he had realized just that morning that it had been almost three months since he first arrived. The kingdom was preparing at large for the Fall planting and, for the most part, the eager gossip about a common boy in the castles' guard was finally starting to die down. He'd reflect on the life of living in a city but he didn't have much to recall, because pretty much since the second he had knocked on the armory door and met his commanding officer he had been pushed to his limit.

He got it, understood it perfectly. He was a farm kid; he knew a thing or two about sword fighting but absolute crap about anything else. He wanted to be stubborn and bold, retaliating against anybody who told him he didn't match up to anyone else, but he couldn't. The fact of the matter was that every member of the guard had been trained to fight since birth and was a thousand times more versed in castle order and societal etiquette then he was. It couldn't be ignored. However, the real thing that set him apart was that he accepted that.

As much as it may have made him grind his teeth in the beginning he kept his head down when he was spat at, but paid attention while he worked. He listened and practiced and worked and he never complained, he just grit his teeth whenever a senior guard would dent his armor or cut through his uniform and he did his job.

And the harder he worked and the more he learned and the better he did, the less they could say to him.

It took him a month to sit at their table as they ate with any kind of confidence. A few of the guys were more accepting and had been encouraging him to ignore the crotchity veterans with their heads up their asses, something he held onto like a lifeline though he'd never admit it. He could always sit with Kim and Ivan and they'd do a fair job of telling anyone else to mind their own if they gave him any problems, but he felt a certain kind of pride when he could sit down and nobody said a damn word.

It took him two months for Rodney to crabbily correct the way he fastened his armor on his own, making a slanted comment but moving over to help him all the same. By that point Nino had been starting to realize that every single time sparring came up during training he was always first pick, and Rodney made a comment about how the captain was really doing him a favor even if it didn't feel like it.

The more guys he took down in one on one matches the less they'd be able to say he didn't belong there, so it was best just to get it over and done with.

And now at almost three months there was hardly anybody he hadn't fought. He didn't always win, he wasn't indestructible. Actually he lost a good handful of matches right at the start, but something about the way he fought like he had everything to prove gained him respect. Over time the guys he was forced to challenge would have a few more remarks and bits of advice then they did insults, and as the tides in the guard houses started to turn so did his matches.

He worked twice as hard and fought with twice the strength because he didn't have any other options, and it had been a straight month now without a single loss.

Didn't mean he was buddies with everybody, as the pulsing pain in his stomach set to remind him. He looked to the side to watch as one of the graying fighters walked away with the shaft of a training spear in his hand and crooked grin on his face, lining up with everyone else for the captain to pick sparring partners to end the day before work set in.

A good number of guys still wanted to see him cut to his knees and sent back to his village, but he took no small amount of pleasure in knowing that, at _this_ point, it was because they were sick of being shown up by him.

Served em' right.

"Done laying around?" Alix shot out, smiling as Nino didn't even pretend to get in line and just took his place at the center of the field. It was a wide space in the western castle courtyard that allowed for significant portions of the guard to train at a single time, while the rest were either on rest or working throughout the castle. The grass had been green and vibrant at one point, but it had eventually been so worn down by countless rounds of weapons training that Nino stood waiting on just a large patch of earth.

"Yes mam'," he replied again, his expression serious enough that she cocked her head.

"No snarky line? That's disappointing," she commented with a chuckle, casting a professional eye over the way he held his stomach. Though she tended to operate with an aloof air she took her job seriously, and she had no intention of letting the other guard get away with that little stunt. Still though, fighting with an injury was good practice, brutal though it may be in training.

The captain shifted her weight, leaning on one knee and tilting her face to rest on propped up hand in a way that made it look like she was _really_ analyzing you where you stood. Her seat put her above the standard eye line of her men but when she stood on the ground most of them had a foot and a half on her. She was small, thin, and sporting a brazen shade of hair. Overall, she was not your typical soldier, and when Nino had first approached her she was impressed that he took her seriously. It showed that he was smart.

It was clear that his very first thought was, 'If this teeny little woman can command the highest rank of the standing military with complete respect and obedience, I absolutely do not want to stand in her way and am just going to do what she says.'

She liked that about him. He respected her lead because he recognized immediately that she had to go through probably twice as much crap as he did to get where she was. She was _powerful_ and she took command, and despite her difficulty gaining respect, she had absolutely no problem maintaining it.

She was silent for a moment, looking down over the gathered guards thoughtfully before settling her gaze once again on her newest recruit. And she had to admit-

She respected him too.

"Nino, this is about the time where I chuck you at yet another opponent to see how you do. I don't believe in just patting you all on the back, you're soldiers not babies. If you're waiting around for someone to give you a biscuit it's not happening." Alix paused, moving now so her knees were spread and she was leaning towards him, head cocked to the side. "You're a fighter and you work damn hard. I feel like you've been through your paces kid, so I've got one final fight for you before I let you off first spar."

Nino stiffened, aware of every guard watching him intensely now. The air was charged with sudden anticipation, and the way the captain grinned at him didn't make him feel any better about it. He tightened his grip on his sword and preemptively settled his footing, meeting the captain's eyes as she said what he was _really_ hoping she wasn't going to.

"If you can take me down I've got something special for you Lahiffe, a move off door duty to something a bit more detailed to see how you handle it. BUT," she countered, moving to jump from her seat and stride forward with the kind of confidence that made him forget she was almost two heads shorter than him. "If you lose," she continued, smirking at him, "I'm gonna finally let Kim off guarding the dungeons and YOU get to replace him. How's that sound?"

The wager hung in the heat of the air like a bear trap filled with gold. Getting the captain off his back in training and finally getting transferred sounded good as hell… but he was not oblivious to what he had to beat to get it. And much like a bear trap yeah, it was the bite that got you, but it was the speed that pinned you down.

Alix waited for his response, sauntering out to face him centerfield and drawing her own weapon into her hand. It was usually a lot safer to use blunt blades to practice, but that's not the sort of thing she believed in. She was in the camp that real swords had a much more… motivational aspect to them.

Nino mulled about for a moment, taking the threat of her seriously but unable to help but smirk a little bit. "Something special huh? More special then the 'honor' of guarding the guest rooms for a summer?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him but laughed along with the rest of the unit, the comment being the closest thing to a complaint he had allowed himself since he arrived. The rest of the men would have complained a hundred times a second if they had gotten the same.

Alix grinned and nodded. "Very special. I think you've earned it, or at least you will have, if you can beat me."

"Won't it be shameful for you to get beat by your underling?" he challenged, smirking to hype himself up. "By a farmboy no less?"

"And what will you say to the prisoners once they realize you got cut down by a woman half your size? We're both outliers here kiddo." She gripped the hilt of the sword in a way only a practiced fighter could and held it before her, smiling at him over the razor sharp line of steel as she said, "Now are you going to fight me or what?"

There was a beat of silence where neither of them did anything… and then all at once, he lunged.

* * *

There were certain things most people took for granted without realizing it, probably never having noticed it enough in the first place to contemplate what life might be like without it. But you noticed when it was gone, and it crept on you if you never had it to begin with.

Like the sound of your footsteps, but just your footsteps. At some point in their life everyone alive would know what it sounded like to pace down a hallway and only hear the sound of your own footsteps, not the sound of two or three. Always.

The princess closed her eyes as she walked, listening to the two staggered pairs of armored boots walking some distance behind her, with her wherever she went. She slowed a little, her dress flowing over the exposed tops of her feet as she held her step, and a short space back the two others slowed as well.

On other days it might make her angry, but in the moment it just made her sigh.

Alya kept walking, attempting to ignore her 'company' like she usually did and instead focused on the warmth of the sun.

The hallway she walked down was opened on the side, sparse columns allowing for long windowless openings overlooking the numerous courtyards of the castle. The angle of the sun was just right that she was warmed by it as she walked, her hand trailing along the stone wall as she paused to look out, her mind wandering.

It was lovely out, finally starting to cool down from the pounding heat of summer. Still though, she knew how much her little sisters enjoyed the weather and knew that they would be sad to see it go (even if they loved fall just as much and always seemed to forget it). She'd be out with them now somewhere in the fields outside of town, but outings usually took a little more planning than that.

She couldn't just go to the fields to enjoy the weather, as little as that was to ask. Instead it had to be scheduled, and the earliest she could take the twins would be the next day. That was actually better than usual, she had to admit. Most of the time she'd be denied all together, but a small outing like this was tame and her father had agreed to it. He didn't like denying her anything but it always came down to a matter of safety, something she understood even if it annoyed her. If the twins weren't going to be with her she'd complain, but even if she knew it was ridiculous she wouldn't feel comfortable taking a risk to _them_.

Alya let a sigh slip out, grumbling to herself a little just for the sake of it and leaning on the stone half-wall.

There was little point in complaining about the same things as always, but on days like this she didn't have much she needed to do anyways and she hadn't had the foresight to plan something _ahead_ so she was moping to pass the time. She had another free day tomorrow, which she would be spending with the twins, and after that there would be a long series of boring yet important things to do. Meetings, hearings, lessons, audiences… she sighed again and shook her head, the curls of her dark, red-tinged hair falling over her shoulders as she did.

It wasn't as if SHE had terribly much to do with any of those, it was her parents, but she still needed to go. It was important to learn and observe, and she understood it was her duty but still… it didn't mean it wasn't dull.

'Important' but dull.

It sounded like her.

Alya let the sun heat her face as she stood there with her eyes closed, the sunlight painting her vision red through her eyelids. She enjoyed the sensation, indulging in it for a few moments more before taking a step back, preparing to leave.

It was just as her eyes opened again that she heard a distant and sharp sound, followed shortly by the nearly inaudible sound of cheering and hoots of encouragement. The princess leaned forward over the railing and tilted her head, hearing again another sharp clash, then cheering.

Alya looked down over the courtyards and searched until her eyes landed on the far off space of the yard that the guards used for their own purposes. Normally they would be training or sparing in pairs of two, but today it appeared to be different.

It was quite a distance away but even from where she was she could see that there was some kind of commotion, a full unit of armored men forming a circle around a single match taking place in the center. Alya leaned out further eagerly, her face lighting up in her hope to see something interesting. She was not disappointed.

From where she was it was effortless to pick out the captain of the guard as one of the fighters, her bright head of hair unmistakable. The Captain was a weird one, but someone she was fond of when it came to those who worked in the castle. She respected her strength and determination, her naturally competitive spirit allowing her to make a place for herself in a field that normally no one would have considered her in. Now though it was clear that this was her element, the young woman dancing around her opponent with boundless energy and clearly enjoying herself.

The second fighter was harder to place. Alya knew the names and faces of a fairly good part of the guard but at this distance it was difficult to tell if it was someone she knew. His back was to her for the most part, his foot work shifting quickly to keep the captain from getting behind him and locking her to a certain half of the circle. She kept watching him, but even when he lunged and was forced to counter the captain's attack with rolling towards the opposite side of the field she still couldn't place him. After a moment she turned her head, keeping her eyes on the fight but referring to her own guards.

"Dawlyn," she called, remembering in time who had been nearby to escort her.

"Yes your majesty?" he answered immediately, approaching now that he had been spoken to but stopping short of the window.

"Who is fighting the captain right now? I don't recognize him from this distance." she asked, looking towards him to gesture his attention to the window and then out towards the training yard. As she did there was another sharp clash and the captain lost her weapon, the second fighter attempting to capitalize on it and ending up getting pitched to the ground in the process. In the short amount of time it took for Dawlyn to look out the window the captain had regained her sword and was trying to charge him but he backed up, keeping control of the momentum.

Dawlyn watched for a moment before humming to himself, glancing towards the early sun and then back towards the fight.

"I believe this is still the first spar of the day your highness, which means it's most likely Nino Lahiffe. It's a surprise to see the captain fighting him one of one though."

"Nino…" she repeated absent mindedly, absorbed in the high energy combat. "I don't recognize the name. I thought I knew most of the guards."

"He's new your majesty," he explained, also admittedly engrossed in the fight as the guards around it let out another distant cheer. "He's also been mainly stationed in the guest quarters, so it is unlikely you would have seen him."

"Hm…" she hummed instead of providing a reply, her guard taking it as a queue to return to his place though she hadn't meant it that way. She'd ask him to come back but she knew she wasn't likely to get any kind of conversation out of him so she just continued to watch on her own. For the most part speaking with her guards made them uncomfortable, all of them so caught up in professional stoicism that they almost always restricted their replies to one word answers. Dawlyn personally was more talkative, but even he had a short limit.

The princess just watched, tracking the quick movement with excited interest as the fight seemed to be drawing towards a close.

As the man defended against an onslaught of strikes from his superior the princess watched him closely, his name trailing behind him in her mind as she tried to place why is sounded familiar.

* * *

Nino's knuckles were white around the hilt of his weapon as he tried to find an opening to counter attack, but it was all he could do to block. He had exhausted his strength advantage and was running out of energy to attack, but the captain was still backing him up with relentless speed.

He had managed a few times to disarm her with sheer power alone but she was always too fast for him to pin her down before she could regain it, and then he'd be right back to where he started. And now he was out of time to think of something clever.

Nino hit the ground hard, the wind getting knocked out of him for the second time as his sword skittered away from him. He was too dazed to try and get up right away, and just like that he felt something cold and sharp against his neck and a small, hard boot against his chest.

He knew he had lost before he even managed to crack open his eyes enough to see Alix's face staring down at him, his captain breathing heavily herself as she triumphantly held her sword to his neck.

Alix let the guards cheer for her as she gathered her breath, absorbing the way Nino tried to hide his disappointment before backing up. She stepped back and lowered her weapon, letting him sit up as she put her sword away.

The cheers died down by the time they both had enough breath to speak, and it was Alix who spoke first.

"Now _that_ was a fight," she said happily, grinning at him as he struggled to his feet. He stood straight for half a second before holding his ribs again, managing a weak smile despite his loss.

"Well-," he huffed, wiping the sweat from his eyes, "I guess I lost my streak."

"You certainly did," Alix couldn't help but goad him, but her position as his superior couldn't allow her to rub it in his face. In reality, she was impressed. "But I wouldn't call that a defeat. A loss sure, but not defeat."

Nino's expression twisted in confusion in a way that made her laugh, and she leaned her weight haughtily on one hip as she explained.

"I asked you to fight with the wind freshly knocked out of you against your superior in command on three months of formal training and you _had me going_. By all rights I should have been able to knock you down within the first minute but you were clever enough to play to your strengths and drag it out. You did good."

Nino absorbed to compliment silently, his breathing still heavy as he looked around him. Without exception everyone still looked hyped, clearly having been excited by the fight and he took that as a good sign. After a moment he looked back to the captain and nodded in thanks.

"Thank you Captain, I did my best but there was no outpacing you."

"Naturally," she answered with a cocky grin that made him laugh. She walked towards his discarded weapon and picked it up, returning it to him before saying, "I can see a handful of things you need to work on, endurance for one, but you've made huge improvements with technique and your foot work was unbreakable. You won't always be able to rely on strength, so we play up the speed and train your endurance and you'll be able to keep up with anybody just fine."

"Yes Captain," he replied, taking his sword with another nod and moving to put it away. He was looking down and was surprised when she spoke again.

"You'll be transferred out to the escort team first thing tomorrow, your special assignment starts at mid-day so make sure your ass in armor and presentable by then. I don't need a rookie giving us more of a bad name with the princess then we already have."

"Excuse me?" he asked, speaking quickly as the captain made to leave through the ring of guards. "Captain, wait I thought I was going to be transferred to the dungeons?"

Alix paused, turning to look at him with a playfully indignant expression.

"Oh come on, did you really think I was going to let Kim off dungeon work that easily? He's going to rot in there until he can afford to pay for everything he's damaged in the armory with Max." She ignored Kim's agonized shout and the laughter of the unit in favor of continuing to answer, saying, "As far as I was concerned you had already earned a move up and a chance to take a crack at being a personal escort, I just wanted to see what you were made of first hand."

She grinned at his shocked face and laughed as she turned on her heel, pushing through her soldiers and calling his last directions dismissively over her shoulder as she left.

"You'll be the front-man escort for the princesses' outing tomorrow as special assignment. They're a handful and everyone else so far has been crap at handling them, but with your drive you'll probably survive. Just keep the little ones happy and the eldest one from disappearing and you're square. You leave at mid-day and they're _your_ responsibility so don't **blow it**."

She gave a final laugh and a wave to dismiss the guards to their duties, giving him a somewhat concerning, "Good Luck!" before she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

The main bulk of the castle was very different from its exterior locations, the closer to its heart you went the more lavish and powerful looking it became. Ever since he had arrived Nino had only ever wandered into the main section of the castle in search of the captain to receive orders, and he had felt extremely out of place as he hurried from one hallway to the next. Now though, he could not say the same.

He walked up the regal stone staircase flanked by luxurious tapestries with his head held high, an undeniable swell of pride propelling him forward as the sun climbed higher in the sky outside. It was nearly midday now and he was filled with an overwhelming surge of emotion as he passed one set of guards after the next. Every time he did their heads would turn to watch him march past, a few of them smiling, the bulk of them struggling to hide their disgust. It just pushed him farther.

Nino was dressed, for the first time, in 'full armor'. Full armor simply meant that he was in completely presentable condition, his armor polished and the royal family's seal of honor displayed proudly in a flare of deep purple on his shoulder. Such a state was reserved only for assignments in which they were in royal company or to indicate that they were of exceptionally high rank, and the young soldier wore it with pride. Every guard he passed wore their uniformed armor, but only he carried the seal.

Though he had never gone there in person he had obsessively memorized a servant's description on how to find the royal family's chambers, taking each turn as he was meant to. He was hyper aware of the sound of his armor as he made his way there, anxious energy threatening the strength of his gate. However, every time he came to doubt himself he would find himself passing by a servant, on his or her way to do what they must, and he would be bolstered by their smiles. They all knew who he was, and he was humbled to have realized that he had become their hero in a way.

Nino's thoughts churned and fretted as he came to an open sided hallway, the warm air of the end of summer finding him as he turned his face towards it. Through its openings he could see the courtyards that surrounded and dotted the castle grounds, his eyes drawn to the secondary unit's exercises on the training field far below him. He did not pause to watch, his destination too important, but he did find some strength in how far above it he stood at that moment.

He turned forward with renewed confidence, looking down the hallway towards where he knew the royal rooms to be when suddenly he spotted movement from the door closest to the end and thus, the closest to Nino. To have a room there would make you very important indeed though they were not as highly placed as the family themselves, so Nino mentally prepared himself to bow or salute them appropriately, when suddenly the man exiting his quarters turned to face him and exclaimed in surprise.

"Nino!"

Though he had been drilling it in his mind for months now when and where to be formal and appropriate he reacted on instinct, and before his training could kick in he enthusiastically replied, "Adrien!"

The young nobleman, who he now knew properly to be the prince of the neighboring kingdom Adrien Agreste, held out his arms in greeting, his blindingly bright smile splitting his face as he headed towards him.

"Well look at you!" he blurted out, the young man seeming to also forget himself for a moment. "Now you're really kitted out!"

"It's great to see you!" Nino replied, making an attempt to reign in the familiarity but finding it hard with Adrien being so eager himself. When Adrien reached out in a kind gesture to place his hand on his shoulder he returned it unhesitatingly, though he did look around to ensure they were alone on instinct. "I haven't run into you in forever, at least not at a time where I could talk to you. Where have you been?"

"Home, but I'm glad to be back. My father had summoned me back to make an appearance at a handful of ceremonies and things like that." Adrien dropped the contact and shrugged dismissively, clearly finding Nino's position much more intriguing than his own, eyeing the guard in front of him with an ecstatic expression. His gaze froze on his shoulder, taking in the deep purple cloth pinned there by shining metal before his expression _lit up_. "Are you wearing the seal?" Adrien asked immediately, cutting off Nino's question and pointing at the cloth. "That's what that is right? Did you get promoted?! Tell me you got promoted!"

"Woah, woah!" Nino blurted out, laughing as he held up his hands. "Hold on there no, I'm not any kind of captain, not yet at least. But I _did_ get moved up." Admittedly it felt a little childish, but he couldn't help but square his shoulders as he pridefully declared, "Actually, I'm on my way to a special assignment right now. I was asked to be the personal escort to her royal highness as she took the young princesses out for the day."

"What!? Well done!"

Nino jerked in surprise when Adrien hugged him, but despite how inappropriate he knew it was to be so openly friendly with a _prince_ , he once again couldn't contain himself and returned the hug, laughing with the friend he really shouldn't have. It was impossible to just treat Adrien like a higher up, someone he should bow his head to and only call 'sir'. It just didn't feel right, not because he meant him any kind of disrespect, but because Adrien treated him like an equal.

They ended the embrace quickly, and Nino realized that Adrien was aware of their class difference, if only in the way that he checked that no one had seen. Adrien was such a genuine person though that Nino knew it was to protect _him_ , not because Adrien was afraid of being punished himself.

"That's great news, and it's completely deserved! I know we haven't been able to talk much, or at all really I'm sorry about that, but I've been keeping track of you. You've worked so hard, trust me it brings me no small amount of satisfaction to see all the other stuffy court advisors finally shut up about having a commoner in the guard. You've exceeded everyone's expectations and then some, they're running out of things to say."

"That's my goal," Nino admitted, laughing a bit. "But still, my effort would mean nothing if I'd never been given the chance. I know I've told you this before but I don't think I can ever say enough how much I owe you for this."

"You earned it yourself, I honestly had very little to do with it," Adrien replied instantly, beaming at him. "I'm proud of you, you're showing everyone what you're made of and it's amazing to watch." Adrien surprised his friend by turning away, gesturing down the hallway with another smile. "As excited as I am to see you I didn't mean to hold you up, you said you're going to Alya's room right? It's just down there."

Nino stiffened, his eyes widening a bit. "Oh, crap you're right," he cursed, nervously running a hand through his hair again as he checked out the opening in the hallway, keeping an eye on the sun which was now almost directly overhead. "I'm not late yet but its close, I should go. I'm nervous enough about meeting her as it is."

"Nervous?" Adrien asked, turning back to the guard and deciding to walk with him instead of leaving right away, the pair of them starting down the hall again. "It is an important job I suppose but you don't need to be nervous of Alya."

"You know her don't you?" Nino decided to ask, realizing that Adrien was probably his best bet at getting any kind of advice outside of the guard. "I got so much conflicting information from the other guards, it's like _nobody_ knows how to deal with her."

To his surprise Adrien laughed, his voice incredulous as he said "What do you mean _deal_ with her? It's **Alya** not the panther."

"The panther?"

"She's a person like anybody else," Adrien continued, seeming to miss Nino's comment entirely. Adrien shook his head, huffing a little. "She's a great person, actually, but she's in a tough position. Trust me I get exactly what she's dealing with, it's why I'm _here_." Adrien looked over at him, his expression earnest. "Try and imagine just for a second what it would be like to never be treated like a person? To have everybody around you respect your title over your name. I know it sounds… _privileged_ to complain about, I'm not saying other people don't have profound struggles, I'm just saying that there is a **different** kind of problem with being royalty."

Adrien hesitated to continue and looked away, but Nino waited, slowing his step slightly to prolong the conversation. After a moment Adrien spoke again, his tone soft.

"I get that the guard is intimidated by her, she's kind of an intimidating person, but just try and remember that. We were both careful while we talked because we knew that you would get in trouble if someone saw us. That's how everyone in her life is, she can't have friends. That gets to you after a while." Adrien nodded, aware that they had come to a stop and looking up to see an ornate, heavy wooden door. He knew it was Alya's.

"So what should I do?" Nino asked seriously, and Adrien looked up at him, the prince smiling slowly.

"This," he answered earnestly, gesturing to the short space between the two of them. "Just talk. Don't be reckless, even if she would appreciate your informality the King certainly wouldn't, as well as anyone else really. It sucks and it's unfair, but it's how it is. So don't be unsafe, just realize the kind of value an honest conversation could have to her. Be kind and professional, and if you ever have a chance alone with her, maybe talk for a while. It'd be more than anyone else has ever done."

Nino paused, absorbing what he said in silence and nodding slightly. It was disappointing that he had only been able to talk to Adrien for a few minutes, but he was glad he had run into him when he did. It felt kind of serendipitous that Adrien would be there, the princess's situation reminding him of his own.

Nino wondered silently how many friends Adrien had himself.

The prince clapped him lightly on the shoulder, his hand making a funny sort of hollow sound on the metal of his armor that made them both laugh a little despite serious topics.

"You'll like her," Adrien assured him, taking a few steps back from the door. "I should probably let you get to it though."

"Your room is just down there right?" Nino clarified, gesturing back the way they had come. "It's a shame I don't run into you more often."

Adrien hesitated for a step before a grin broke out on his face. "Yeah, that's where I stay. Why?"

"Oh you know," Nino said dismissively, shrugging in a way that made Adrien laugh. "Not to hang out or nothing, that would be informal."

"Highly inappropriate," Adrien agreed, using the same kind of sarcastic tone. "Unheard of really."

"Absolutely unacceptable," Nino tacked on, "Never would happen. But if it did, hypothetically-,"

"Hypothetically I'd be in there most nights and wouldn't say a word."

"Well then hypothetically that sounds great," Nino finished, grinning now himself. The two of them laughed to themselves, and Nino took the chance to salute loosely with one hand. "See you around 'sire'."

"See ya," Adrien chuckled, finally fully turning to be on his way.

Nino watched him go, the prince leaving to go do… whatever it was that princes did in the day when vacationing in another kingdom. The thought of defying class tradition even more than he already had made him smile, and he looked forward to finding some time to sneak off and actually get to just get to know the man who had changed his life. They had been lucky to have even traded 6 or so conversations, and every time he did Nino reaffirmed to himself what a good person Adrien really was.

Lonely, but good.

The guard took a deep breath, focusing again on the intricately carved wooden door in front of him. He was likely expected by this point, but despite Adrien's advice he was still a little unsure of himself. He couldn't put it off anymore though… and after a final moment more Nino squared his shoulders and stood tall, knocking on the door with his metal clad fist.

It took two weighty _raps_ against the door for him to be heard, but as soon as his hand started to lower he heard a response. A female voice.

"Come in!"

Nino waited, breathing deeply before taking the door knob in a firm hand and opening it wide.

The young guard stepped through into a space that was clearly furnished by wealthy people, but to someone with simple tastes. Not inelegant certainly, but not gaudily encrusted with diamonds either (as he had low key been expecting). No, the wealth showed most in the quality of its furnishings, in the carvings in the dark wood and the vibrancy of the carpets. It was a very spacious chamber compared to his own, which was a little below average as it was before it was crammed with four beds. This space held only one bed, the very large four poster kind with its carved columns and tasteful canopy catching his eye. The bed was easily the nicest piece in there, but there was also a desk, a side table, a long table and a set of dressers with vibrant carpets dotted across the stone floor. A royal room, should there ever be one.

He absorbed the room quickly, and it wasn't long at all before his gaze fell towards the large set of balcony doors across from him, currently open and revealing a woman who now turned towards him with her back to the open air outside.

His nerves were already electric but seeing her sent an anxious surge through him, worsening a little when she smiled.

It couldn't possibly be inappropriate to acknowledge that she was beautiful, it would be impossible to be near her and not immediately be aware of it. She was dark skinned to the point where the white flash of her teeth was stunning, her eyes a strong gemstone like hazel though it wasn't necessarily the color that he noticed the most. It was what you could see of her in them, describing her more clearly then the richly dark-colored curls of her hair.

She smiled appropriately at him, something polite and practiced but her eyes were withdrawn, steady, and strong. There was not a fire in her eyes, but rather the steel to strike it. This all was not exactly telling of her current demeanor, which seemed polite and rehearsed, but rather an indication of _her_.

Or perhaps he read too deeply…

But to him she seemed unbreakable.

"Ah, you must be my escort for the day, right?" she asked him, her voice even but her expression a little… hm. He didn't have the words for it. Put out maybe? She smoothed the front of her elegant dress with one hand, her dark skin complimented by the rich orange of it, he noticed. She looked back up at him, folding her hands loosely in front of her. "Well you're on time. A little early, actually, my little sisters haven't arrived yet. Their lessons must have gone long."

Nino was trying to decide quickly whether or not he was expected to respond when something in her expression shifted, and suddenly he felt as if she was searching him intensely. He tensed a little as she tilted her head to the side, her hair shifting to reveal a rather cute birthmark above one eye.

He really needed to stop getting distracted.

"Wait," she spoke abruptly, though he had no immediate intention of doing anything. Her eyes cast over his armor and then back to his face, the poor guard starting to fry on the spot when she suddenly said, "I know you."

"I'm sorry?" he asked aloud, his surprise asking the question first and forcing him to tack on, "your majesty" half a second later.

"Yes, yes I knew you looked familiar!" she said instead of answering, her expression lighting up as she moved forward eagerly, closing the sizable distance between them somewhat. "I saw you yesterday in the training field, you were fighting the Captain weren't you? Nino, Nino Lahiffe, isn't it?"

Nino's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but have his heart sink just a little. Here he was trying to make a good impression as her personal guard, when the first thing she had ever seen him do was LOSE in a fight. He felt sort of childish but he was kind of… devastated.

"You saw that?" He hesitated for a moment before he chuckled a little awkwardly, "Yes that was me. I didn't know that you were watching, your majesty."

"It was an amazing fight; it was hard not to notice it." She smiled at him more genuinely now, an actual smile instead of a polite one. "I haven't seen anyone withstand the Captain for that long in… well, nobody EVER lasts really. Alix is pretty intense."

"She's terrifying," Nino agreed a little unprofessionally, but he was delighted to see her smile again. "I'm pleased I survived. But I assure you princess you're no less safe with me, the Captain is just a frightening exception."

Alya absorbed what he said for about half a second before she was laughing, Nino grinning instantly at the sound of it. He shifted in place excitedly, grateful that Adrien's advice was panning out. Just treat her like a person. Teasing and a joke, but professional reassurance, this was good right? But he was being honest when he told her she was perfectly safe with him, he was a little worried that losing would make her think he was less capable. He already had so much to prove, having the princess think he was any less of a fighter was unacceptable to him.

Alya was still giggling as he thought this, straightening up and smiling at him. "Don't worry, I saw most of it. You had someone as skilled as Alix on the run for quite a bit of that fight, against anyone else I know you would have won. I understand your concern though, losing to a woman half your size must be killer for your confidence."

Nino chuckled a little, his nerves finally starting to die out as he found the confidence to jokingly reply, "Funnily enough nobody else in the guard seems to fault me for it. It's almost like all of them have been beaten by her at one point or another."

Alya chuckled, looking up at him with a new kind of expression. There was a moments silence before she said, "You know, when Dawlyn told me your name yesterday it sounded familiar to me but I couldn't place why."

She didn't continue like he expected her to, the princess instead just watching him curiously. "I can't imagine why, your majesty," he replied honestly.

"I thought maybe it was your family, but I realized I'd never heard the Lahiffe name before."

Nino felt a slight discomfort crawl across the back of his neck, her words making him feel out of place in his uniform rather abruptly. His armor, which had faded from his notice, suddenly felt heavy again.

"You wouldn't know it," he admitted after a second, his tone just a little bit more withdrawn. A little bit more professional. "It is not a noble name, your highness. My enlistment was kind of an… exception."

Her eyes widened at his answer and her lips parted in a silent gasp. Nino was left in his discomfort for only a moment more, before quite suddenly, her face was split by a grin.

"I knew it was familiar!" she exclaimed excitedly, Nino jumping a little at the sudden volume. She moved forward and all at once the distance between them was cut more than in half, the princess eager now. "I knew I had heard it! Of course I would have, it makes so much sense now! You WOULD be an exceptional fighter; you'd have to be! _You're_ the one Adrien told me about!"

Nino was leaning away slightly as she leaned forward, startled by her sudden enthusiasm and floundering for what to say, completely thrown off. Her eyes were shining with interest and heat crawled up his back.

"I- I well yes, I'm the- I only just joined the guard." Nino hesitated again, looking down at her as he asked, "Adrien told you about me?"

"Yes! You saved his life, it was all he was talking about when he first arrived. He wouldn't stop until my father agreed to see you, he was practically demanding that you have a place in the guard."

Nino was stiff, incredibly caught off guard by her reaction. He had been expecting her to look down her nose at him but he hadn't been expecting her to be… well.

Impressed.

Nino stood there awkwardly, realizing he had no idea what to say in response. She was on the verge of asking about a hundred questions at once, leaning towards him with a powerful and earnest kind of eagerness he was unprepared to deal with. Her curiosity, for just a moment, did away with any barriers. And he was left looking into her eyes.

Till there was a knock at the door.

The princess had barely even a second to pull away, Nino all at once standing ramrod straight as they were abruptly intruded upon. The knock came only a split second before the door swung open and he turned in time to see two little girls standing in the doorway before they were sprinting inside, passing him in a sudden blur to get to their sister who they did not notice looked a little bit peeved.

"Alya, today-!"

"We were-"

"Are we leaving yet?"

"And then-!"

Nino shook his head a little as if to try and make sense of the sudden gaggle of words, the two little girls each talking fast enough to make it sound as if there were even more of them. Nino watched as Alya sighed, smiling a little despite her slight irritation as she bent down to greet them.

The two little girls looked extraordinarily alike, as young twins often did, but there were slight differences. They were small enough however that he wouldn't be confident at all picking which was which if they were not conveniently color coded.

They both looked an awful lot like Alya (though not as much as they did each other, clearly) but instead of wearing their hair down it was bundled up nicely in blue and pink bows. Their dresses were appropriately blue and pink as well, made just as finely and with as much detail as their sisters. He had heard the young princesses were about nine or so, but they looked even younger as they eagerly clung to Alya's gown.

"Yes we're leaving right now, you can tell me about it as we go alright? You're being rude, remember yourselves. We have someone with us."

Both little girls blinked, looking up at Alya for another full second before their attention drifted to Nino for the first time.

"Etta, Ella, this is Nino," Alya introduced him, nodding with approval when both girls straightened up and behaved themselves. She smiled at him before telling them, "He is going to be watching out for us in the fields today so make sure you are polite to him."

"I don't know you," one of them spoke up, the one in pink to be precise. He couldn't be much more precise than that because, unfortunately, Alya had introduced them with their names together, and for the life of him he couldn't decide whether the one in pink was Ella or Etta. Whoever it was looked back up at Alya, asking her "I thought we knew all the guards?"

"He's new," she explained, her smile slipping more so into her real one as she said, "He's actually very special. Nino wasn't chosen from the noble families like the other guards were, but earned his place through his talent." Nino stiffened nervously when she met his eye again, saying calmly but with that real smile "It's very impressive."

There was a space of silence where no one said anything, the twins looking at him with wide, curious eyes. But he was once again caught up in Alya, and he found himself replying, "Thank you."

He forgot to add any sort of title, something he only noticed when the twins traded a glance, but even that failed to unease him as Alya grinned again. He was pleased that, at least somewhat, he had managed to reclaim whatever sort of rapport they had created in the short time they had spoken. But with another look to the young princesses he reminded himself to be careful.

"Your majesties," he greeted them with a bow, smiling at them as warmly as he could while still remaining professional. They were still just kids, being surrounded by formal adults must get exhausting after a while. "It's an honor. As her highness said I'll be watching out for you, but don't let me get in the way of your day. I'm just here to make sure you're safe."

"Thank you sir," the one in blue said appropriately, the pair of them curtsying. Despite their formality though, they both returned that same warm smile he had given them.

With that he looked back to Alya and waited, and she took it as a queue to move things along.

"Alright then, the horses should be waiting for us but it's not far. We only have a few things to take with us, so we should be on our way."

Alya gestured to her side towards the long table in the main space of her room, a bundle of this already waiting. Nino didn't hesitate to cross towards it, quickly glancing over the basket filled with food and the weighty red blanket before picking it up and turning back towards the girls.

Alya grinned, grabbing her young sisters by the hand as she asked, "Are you sure you've got that? I can ask Alix to come help you if you're struggling you know."

Etta and Ella gasped a little, giggling but clearly surprised. Nino to his credit also looked surprise, but he was quick to suddenly lower the items, as if abruptly they were far too heavy to carry.

"I'm not sure how I'll do it there has to be at least three lunches in here, but I'm aiming to impress so I will do my best to scrape by, your highness."

Nino grinned as the twins laughed at the joke, Alya snickering too as she shook her head. Nino was grinning still as they headed towards the still open door, the girls leaving first with Nino to bring up the rear and close the door behind them.

He may have been carrying their things but he didn't feel much like a servant as he walked along behind them. The four of them started down the hallway and Nino watched with that same pride he had felt before as the three princesses talked about their days, the younger sisters animatedly detailing yet another interesting lesson they had finished. Every time Alya would look over her shoulder to see him trailing perhaps only five feet behind she would offer him a smile and he would return it, going out of his way to make sure he never missed one even when he had to take the lead to pass them through the outer sections of the castle.

It was simple but he thought it was important, checking on them all over his shoulder and taking the second to return her smile before looking forward again. It didn't matter if he held their things or fetched their horses, he still felt like the guard he knew he was.

When it came time to it he let Alya board her horse herself, deciding on the fly that he would try and offer her what independence he could. She had walked forward but glanced back at him like she expected him to stop her, and when he didn't he earned another one of her smiles, and he gave her another one of his.

He couldn't deny the power he felt as he moved his borrowed, royal steed to the front of their procession, its hooves clamoring loudly on the cobbled stone of the main road leading out of the castle. The warm summer sun reflected off his armor and made the vibrant purple of his seal even brighter, the young guard sitting high on the saddle as he looked back at his charges.

Here he was, his armor on his shoulders, his sword at his hip, and the princesses riding to either side of him expectantly, looking to their escort to lead the way.

There was so much power in nodding silently for the gate to be opened, leading the way through onto the road that led to the city. He could hear the distant horse hooves of the escort team assigned to keep their distance overpowered by the sound of the horses of the people he was charged to protect. Out of everyone _he_ was leading them, and he knew he would take immense satisfaction in watching every guard who spat at him and told him to head home to his farm defer to his lead and be forced to stand by a couple hundred yards away.

He escorted them through the city and swelled with pride every time a commoner would look up at him and then to the princesses that followed, everyone shouting their praise and paying their respects as they waved back and gave them their practiced smiles, kind, but distant.

He knew what he looked like in that moment, flanked by royalty and bearing his seal, so he held his head high.

Because he knew, in that moment,

He looked like a knight.


	5. Chapter 5

To the east of the Castle Town was not much of anyone, any small villages or settlements for outside trading either favoring the east or hiding just within the shade of the forest to the south. Instead it was dominated by a great expanse of rolling fields, a scattering of rocky outcroppings the only thing to break up the gently flowing waves of color. In late summer as it was the hills and creeks were dressed in thick, sleepy yellows and light stalky greens. The stones of the creek beds bore every shade of a storm and cast them against the trickling blue of its waters, lazy shafts of sunlight fighting through the billowing white clouds that hung in the sky. But perhaps most notably, were the wildflowers.

All across the hills and gripping tightly to the boulders were flashes of royal purple, shocking azure and pure snowfield white. Keeping together in clusters of vibrant color were the poppies, varied from crimson red to every shade of failing sunlight. The pollen and insects natural to all of these sights drifted on the breeze and traveled uninterrupted, unless their path happened to cross the only current inhabitants of such a naturally beautiful place.

The finely woven blankets the princesses had brought with them lay flat on the crest of a hill, creating a lowered square in the tall growing grass. The flora surrounding their place also hung low, the sudden traffic of two eager children and their older sister enough to cut narrow paths between their destinations. No matter where they wandered in the fields however they always drifted back towards their chosen spot, where stood on the hill their guard kept watch.

Nino shifted a bit as he stood, subtly positioning the gaps in his armor to catch the cool breeze as it came through and sighed quietly in content, glad to be cooled down. The weather itself was far from brutal, but he found it uncomfortable to go without the breeze for too long, the sun working hard to heat his armor and him along with it.

He cast a careful eye over the vast area, glad once again that there were so few places to hide in such a place. It was the main reason the girls were allowed only one guard to be on hand, any others standing far in the distance at the edges of the forest or watching the road. So long as he made sure to watch for movement outside of the occasional animal visiting a creek, he could actually enjoy where he was.

It was stunning here, the end of summer bringing out its best. He partially believed that thanks to the wonders natural to the location, but he also could not deny that he was quickly growing fond of it for another reason all together.

He turned at the sound of shrill laughter, smiling openly to see one of the young twins gripping the length of her dress in her hands and charging through the creek with her bare feet. Her laughter sounded again as the cold water made her jump away, giggling happily as she sprinted back towards her twin. He chuckled to himself as he turned to face them completely, pleased to see them enjoying themselves under his watch but also wondering if should intervene before they slipped.

No, he decided, they were careful enough on their own for now.

His attention was caught again by another sound, this time coming from his side, and he looked down to see that the eldest princess was lounging peacefully on the blanket he had laid out for her, laughing to herself.

Alya looked up when she noticed him move, smiling at him lazily as she soaked in the pleasant atmosphere. The twins were taking another charge in together this time, holding hands as they did and sacrificing half of the hems of their dresses to be dragged through the water with them.

"Enjoying yourself, your highness?" he asked, attempting to be the one to start conversation.

"Yes," she answered happily, shifting to sit up a little to better watch her sisters play. "It's so nice here, and it's fun to see them play."

"Mm…" he replied distractedly, failing with conversation right away as he focused more carefully on the twins, watching as the two of them crouched low in the grass and whispered to each other about something on the other side of the creek. "What are they up to?"

"They're just playing probably," she reassured him, though she too watched curiously as her sisters flattened themselves against a rock, peering over the edge at something. "Made up a new game or something. I'm sure they'll be safe, no need to worry."

"Yeah… yeah you're right," he agreed, craning his neck somewhat to keep them in view as they started to move farther away but heeding Alya's request to leave them alone.

There was a small stretch of silence, the twins being quiet now with their attention so entirely focused. Alya remained on the blanket with their guard, silence reigning until Alya broke it.

"So… what was being a farmer like?"

Nino jolted, looking back to her in surprise and found that she was smiling at him, grinning wide as could be.

"That's right isn't it? You were a farmer before Adrien brought you here?"

Nino blinked once at her, suddenly becoming a bit nervous as he quickly looked away again under the excuse of watching the twins.

"Um yes, I was. Uh..." he hesitated, smiling at her bashfully as he said, "there isn't much to say honestly. It's all boring."

Alya didn't reply, just watching him expectantly till he laughed somewhat nervously, trying to figure out what he could tell her.

"It was just, well. It's my family's farm. I worked on it with my father and cousins to set the crop and keep it alive, then work the harvest. Selling it wasn't every really my job, I was more so responsible for making sure we still had something to sell."

"What do you mean?" she pressed, her head tilting curiously. He shifted again nervously, trying to remember that she was a person just like anyone else. It was hard to forget who she was entirely though, even if they were alone. In fact being alone with her almost made him _more_ nervous.

"Um… I learned to fight for a reason. At first it was to pass the time but it became necessary eventually. Since we were so close to the border raiders would cross over into the outer villages where we wouldn't have the protection of the castle. They preferred to steal their food rather than pay for it, so it became my job to fight anyone who showed up in a raid and escort our shipments to town."

"You had to fight bandits just to keep the crop!?" Alya blurted indignantly, her expression so genuinely outraged that he jumped in surprise. "Farmers already work hard enough; I knew the borders were weak that far out but I didn't know _that_."

"Don't be upset," he somewhat pleaded, trying to smile as he placated her. "It's alright, a lot of people who live that far out know how it is. Lots of men study fighting in order to protect their families and keep off raiders. We can't expect the castles aide when we are so far away, so we fend for ourselves."

"But what happens now that you're gone?" she asked quietly, watching his expression carefully. "Is your family going to be alright?"

"My village keeps things tight, no one there would ever leave my family unprotected. My cousins can fight as well and my fathers no pushover, I know they'll be alright. The bandits in the area know not to mess with my family, raids only came close to us when they were attacking travelers in the woods or moving shipments of stock." The young guard smiled, but she could tell he had had the same fears himself no matter what he said.

"Will they struggle without you when the harvests come again?"

"Maybe…" he admitted, but he shrugged, looking away again. "But I can be of more help from here then I would be if I had stayed. This way I can save money to support them. The farm is dead through winter time, we don't raise livestock, so we usually have to look for other kinds of work. But I'm being paid much more here than I ever would have been anywhere closer to home, and it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

Alya was quiet, and after a while the silence stretched long enough that he looked back down to her, watching as she fidgeted with her dress.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked, thinking through his words and trying to figure out if he had said something wrong. His worry heightened when she didn't respond, but when she looked up at him at last he was surprised by her soft smile.

"… It's very honest. And noble," she said slowly, looking him in the face as she did, absorbing his expression. "Your reasons for being here," she explained. "It's noble. That's what I think all the guards should be like, people with that kind of earnest intention. You're here because you earned it and you were capable, and you stayed because you knew you could help your family if you did. Despite the fact that I'm sure so many people told you that you didn't belong I can honestly say you're one of the only guards who actually does, I believe. I admit I don't know you…" she paused, looking him over and seeing the way the tall armored image of a guard paired with the earnest open expression of a farm boy, before saying with a smile, "but you certainly have my attention."

Nino was stunned, staring at the princess in silence but she did not look away. He was stood facing the royal in surprise, and truly he felt like a farmer in a bigger man's clothes, if only for a moment. But the longer she watched him and the more he absorbed her words he was again reaffirmed that he was not, in fact, out of place. He was exactly where he was supposed to be, and he was doing his job.

"You are… too kind, your highness." He finally managed, looking down to allow himself a brief moment of privacy. Despite the genuine flood of affirmation though, he still afforded her a smile when he looked up again. "And incredibly well said… Thank you… You'd expect a guard to be more sure of themselves, but your faith makes me feel… better."

He grit his teeth at the ineloquent reply, glad he decided to quickly look away when he heard her giggle. In his defense he didn't have schooling like she did, but he had a feeling that even if he did he wouldn't come off nearly as sharp as she did. He was realizing pretty quickly that 'sharp' was as good a word to describe her as unbreakable was. When he glanced back he could see the edge of her in her grin and the flash of humor in her eyes as she no doubt prepared to tease him over it, something he accepted with good nature. Her presence was, in a way, overwhelming, but also easy. How someone could manage to be both the most intimidating person he had ever met yet also someone he could grin at effortlessly he had no idea… She was brilliant and beautiful and incredibly important, but as she teased him jokingly he recalled that it was HIM who had caught her attention.

"Yeah well… I didn't spend the ride over preparing a speech so excuse me princess if it was lacking." Nino rolled his eyes, smiling as he turned back towards the field.

"You were so set on making a good impression I just figured-," she had started to reply with a smirk, when she was suddenly cut off by an incredibly serious and alert guard, Nino's playful tone instantly gone.

"Where are the twins?"

"What?" Alya questioned but he was already moving down the hill when she turned to look. She sat up straight, looking out over the tall grass and sweeping her gaze across the creek where they had been and all the hillocks and wild flowers.

But that's _all_ she saw.

Her breath caught when she heard the sharp distinctive sound of a sword being unsheathed and she whipped around to see Nino moving quickly towards the creek bed, calling out loudly in a powerful voice that startled her.

"Girls!" he shouted out, "Etta! Ella!"

Nino stood where he had seen them last, his heart starting to race as his grip on his weapon tightened. He shouted again, stepping forward and crossing the stream quickly, a thousand thoughts silenced in the back of his mind.

Part of him wanted to panic, whether for the kingdom or the girls or himself. He was dead if something happened to them on his watch but that didn't matter, it fell silent in the face of the greater threat. Even in as peaceful a place as the field he had been an idiot. He got complacent, distracted. His own life was forfeit, but those two little girls-

"Girls!" he shouted a final time, climbing the hill of stone and rock to get as good a view as possible, ready to face an army should he find it when quite abruptly, bursting up from the tall waist high grass… were the two most furious little girls he had ever seen.

"You RUINED it!" shouted out, her pink dress dirty and wet in places, startling the battle ready soldier so thoroughly he almost lost his footing on the stones. Nino blanched and retreated, glancing up just in time to see a small family of field rabbits dart away into the grass, followed a brief distance by the heart broken wails of the second young princess.

"They were _right there_ , they were playing and they were RIGHT THERE and you **ruined it!"**

"I- you- what!?" Nino blurted incredulously, somewhat aware of Alya coming up beside him as he lowered his sword.

"Girls _what_ were you-!" Alya started herself, her entire posture furious when she was cut off by one of her sisters running into her legs, gripping her dress in greedy hands and crying out indignantly.

"We followed the bunnies all the way there to their house and they had the _little babies_ and then he came by and he was **shouting** and he RUINED IT!"

Nino stared at them in disbelief for another full second before he nearly dropped his sword all together and groaned heavily, an armored hand reaching up and covering his face.

He heard Alya sigh as well, her tone frustrated as she said, "You scared us half to death and disappeared because you were watching _rabbits!?_ "

Instead of seeing any kind of error on their part for ignoring Nino's clearly distressed calls they chose to cling to their sister, pointing accusingly at Nino and only seeing his fault in the whole affair.

Alya was frowning as she tried to make sense of their babbling, groaning again herself before looking up to see Nino sheathing his sword, shaking his head until he finally looked relieved. He was clearly pleased that nothing had actually gone wrong, but he had been ready to kill in a heartbeat and that had to be exhausting.

"Listen you two, no _listen to_ _ **me**_ ," Alya cut in to her sisters' frantic accusations, her tone so heavy and serious that they faltered and stared up at her, Nino looking over as well. She had on her best 'princess' voice as she gave them an order. "Under no circumstances, ever, EVER are you to ignore your guard when he calls for you. He is here to keep you safe you do not just DISAPPEAR on him; do you understand me?"

The twins looked up at her, their expression twisting in stubbornness and still mixed with their previous devastation. However, ever as strong willed as their sister, Etta had the nerve to say, " **You** ignore guards and run away ALL THE TIME."

Alya froze, pulling back a little as she opened her mouth and closed it again, searching for an answer. She didn't look at him but she saw Nino raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eye.

Eventually Alya huffed and said, "That's different, _I_ am not a little kid! You two have to stay where he can see you, and you **answer** when he calls. Got it?"

Alya felt a little warm for the first time in the late summer sun as she deliberately ignored Nino's questioning expression, not appreciating getting called out by her baby sisters. She waited firmly until they more or less agreed, moving away from her now and looking instead towards Nino.

"We're sorry," they said together after a moment, trading a glance between them before somewhat stiffly curtsying, clearly knowing it was what they were _supposed_ to do even if they still held him responsible for ruining their fun.

"We should have answered," replied Etta (he was fairly sure), looking away as she added "even if it would have scared them away…"

"Yes," Ella agreed, looking up at him and seeming a little more genuine than her sister. "We didn't mean to scare you. We were just playing."

Nino didn't reply right away, taking a deep breath and finding solace in seeing them both safe and sound before saying, "It's alright. Just please, don't run off unless I know at least where. I want to be able to let you two have your freedom but if you ignore me when I look for you I can't do that."

"Yes sir," they replied together, bowing their heads. When they looked up again his heart ached dully at their expressions, and though it was completely ridiculous to, he honestly did feel a little bad about scarring away their rabbits.

"I'll tell you what," he finally said, gesturing further out into the field. "If you let me help, maybe we can try and find those rabbits again. That way you can play but I can keep an eye on you, alright? I promise I won't scare them away this time."

The twins were expressionless for about two seconds before it finally settled in what he had said, and he couldn't help but smile a little at how suddenly ecstatic they seemed.

"You'll help us?" Said one, bouncing on her heels. "You'll play with us!?" asked the other, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Yes," he reiterated, laughing aloud when they cheered. Suddenly though he thought better of it, looking up and past them towards Alya who was watching the scene with a fond smile. "If that's alright with you, your highness."

"Watching a guard in full armor try and sneak around and find some rabbits?" she asked back, quirking an eyebrow as she smirked at him. "It would honestly make my day. Mind if I help?"

"Of course you can!" Etta cheered, jumping and cheering with Ella before the two of them sprinted off, heading towards the blanket where their lunches rested uneaten saying they were going to grab some 'bait'.

Quite abruptly, as was common with the twins, they were gone, and Nino was left standing in a small clearing of trampled grass with a very amused heir to the throne.

"You're seriously going to play with them?" Alya asked, her smile clear in her voice as she looked at him, genuinely surprised which seemed odd to him.

"They nearly scared me half to death, seems like the best way to keep an eye on them," he answered, shrugging a little as he looked back over the small trail the girls had cut towards the hill they had set up on. "Besides," he continued, looking back towards Alya with an exasperated smile, "they actually managed to make me feel bad about the rabbit thing. I feel like I owe them."

Alya let out something like a 'pfft' before eventually she was laughing, shaking her head. "They have that effect on people, but don't be a pushover or they'll take you for everything you're worth."

"I'm not a pushover," Nino defended himself immediately. "…I'm not!" he said again when she just laughed, starting to walk away from him and towards the girls.

"Sure thing, farmboy," she said over her shoulder with a grin. Surprisingly, even though if anyone else had said it it might have offended him he didn't mind it when she said it. He knew she saw him as he was… it was more just… familiar sounding. "Come on now, I need help organizing them," Alya continued, looking forward now.

"As you wish, your highness."

"Alya," she replied, and when she looked back at him the image of her stunned him. The sun shone through her red hair and made it look like fire against her dark skin. Her eyes were bright and her smile kind, if mirthful, as she reminded him, "When we're alone, you can call me Alya."

"Right…" he answered slowly, swallowing as he suddenly looked down to create some space. He was still smiling however, focusing on the grasses and the wildflowers to clear the sight of her from his head.

Didn't work, he noted sourly.

She laughed before calling him by name again, and together they headed back towards the hill where the twins were rifling through their lunches for anything they were willing to spare. When they reached the creek he held out his hand on instinct, prepared to help her over it, but she gave him the stink eye and he retracted it, shrugging and gesturing for her to go on her own.

He rolled his eyes when she managed to soak half of her dress but otherwise made no comment as she shook out the hem, the water logged fabric clearly enough of a cost to pay to do something on her own. He did however say aloud, "Really?" when she turned back to offer _her_ hand to help him cross.

"Don't want you to rust your pretty new boots farmboy," she said with a smirk, snickering when he ignored her hand and stepped over the creek alone, bursting into a short laugh when he shot her a withering look and continued on ahead.

"Oh I was just helping!" she called after him, "Isn't that the polite thing to do?" but she only earned another dead panned glance for her trouble, and far out into the field a family of rabbits turned their ears to the sound of light, ringing laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

The castle was filled with light for what would only be a handful of moments more, the very last of the sun reaching the walls of the open stone hallways before it would settle into murky twilight. Dusk looked beautiful on the tiles and the tapestries of the castle, scattering over muted servants and hurried nobles alike as the day drew to a close. Measured steps were audible amidst the sounds of a conversation between councilmembers, and though the younger of the two pretended flawlessly to absorb everything he was told, he was focused on the gorgeous failing light of the kingdom. It was much more enchanting then what was possibly the dullest conversation he could think of, but as he sensed another pause he hummed as if considering something, nodding to his elder to continue.

Adrien hated these things. He knew he was probably being childish, but he really hadn't retained a single thing since they left the gathering hall, where most of his attention had been required. The lord that currently monopolized his attention wasn't saying _anything_ that he needed to hear, not a single thing was of note or use to him in the slightest. It was essentially a recap of things they had _already_ voted on, and arguments they had _already_ made, which Adrien had actively argued **against** in the meeting they _**just came from**_ , but that didn't seem to occur to the nobleman. The persuasive argument had been so contradictory and useless since the matter had already been decided that Adrien was reminded of a goat ramming its horns against a wall. The old codger was probably just sore that someone so much younger than him had the king's ear, taking their moment alone as a chance to swing Adrien to his side. Not that it mattered, since it was already over and Adrien had already won.

'Just take the loss and stop already…' Adrien muttered in his head, tearing his eyes away from the view of the castle town and indulging this dusty mean man in the interest of politeness. The old lord said something and argued something and made some kind of point, and Adrien just hummed again, looking away and down the hallway a bit wistfully. How nice it might be to walk down that way. Alone, and without a lecture. But men in positions of power loved their arguments too much to be stopped just by being wrong so… he endured.

"Yes I see," Adrien stated eventually, not sure exactly if he interrupted in a spot that made sense but he was really hoping this would end soon, "however as I stated before I think the current needs of the outer territories are more important then the cost in resources. The Fall harvest will bolster us, it's a worthy investment and the King agrees with me if it means salvaging relations. Now if you'll excuse me-,"

"This Kingdom is not like your own!" the noble reiterated, and Adrien internally wilted as he seemed intent on repeating himself _again_. "Our crop yields are different to yours, we can't account for-,"

"Sir please, if you will," Adrien nearly begged, taking a step away, "The matter is settled, and I have business to attend to."

Adrien turned to leave but the lord was speaking again, and he had to make an effort not to sigh in exasperation, facing the opening looking out over the castle grounds like he might jump from it. He kept his back to him in a desperate hope that he might let him leave, but as he ranted about the territories his attention was caught by a group moving far below him.

Adrien took a step forward, leaning out to look at the procession of horses seeing as the lord didn't really need him to engage anyways.

Marching through the inner walls of the castle grounds was the familiar formation of a royal party, heavy footed guards following along behind as three horses made there way up to one of the entrances to meet some servants who were waiting expectantly to take the reins. Adrien looked to the front, grinning to see an armored guard step down from his place on his steed and hand the lead to a servant, no doubt saying please and thank you. He could easily recognize the princess immediately behind him, already dismounting on her own as the guard bypassed her without hesitation, moving instead to help the small weary twins from their shared saddle.

They all looked together and in one piece, Nino collecting the royal daughters and sending the horses to be watered with what he was sure was an air of expertise. He couldn't hear them or see them too clearly in detail, but he could picture it perfectly, beaming to see him doing so well. He deserved it, after how hard he worked, and Adrien again felt that same swell of pride he had when he saw Nino that morning.

He watched them until they vanished from sight, his mind already working out a way to maybe 'accidently' encounter Nino again to ask how it went when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he allowed himself a small sigh.

"Yes?" he asked dully, turning to pretend to listen again, at least for a little while. Then, he'd sneak away and find the guard. Yes, how optimistic that sounded, as the aging lord continued to rant about _nothing_. The implication that he might ever escape was somewhat reassuring to him, and he steeled himself for another round of tiring, insufferable politics.

The tail end of dusk mingled with the now lit torches of the interior staircases, filtering through the windows and illuminating the carpeted stone steps that the party very slowly made their way up. Their progress was hindered by the twins, who were subdued as they mumbled something sleepily to each other, the pair of them holding onto their older sister's dress as she gently guided them towards their rooms.

Nino smiled when he looked back at them, staying in the lead but forced to wait every few steps for them to catch up. The poor little ones had worn themselves out before they had even left the field, so the ride home and through the town had been a weary one. Nino frowned a little when he saw how dirty the hems of their dresses were (and in honesty he wasn't looking much better), but he hoped they might still be awake enough to explain to their mother how much fun they had had should they see her before bed. Certainly, Alya would explain at least but he also wasn't sure he wanted the story in her hands either. She'd probably linger on the loud, clinking rabbit hunt adventure a little longer then was professionally impressive…

He caught Alya's eye when she looked up, trading a smile as they tried to do. She held onto her sisters as they reached the landing, walking with them through one of the longer, final hallways.

"Today was fun," Alya stated simply, and it took Nino a second to realize she was talking to him. He looked around for a moment to ensure the other guards had taken their posts, but when he saw they were alone he slowed up, walking beside her instead with one of the twins between them.

"I'm glad you had a good time."

She hummed in response, and he realized he hadn't left much of an opening to continue. He looked around again, careful, before saying, "I know you said you don't get to do those a lot, so it's nice that you were allowed to today. And I bet the little ones loved spending time with you."

At this Alya laughed, smiling up at him as they walked shoulder to shoulder. He felt himself stand a little taller, wanting to still look impressive if he could manage it but the dirt and creek water that still lingered on his armor probably ruined that a little. Or maybe she liked it more, he wasn't sure.

"I hardly ever got to go out like that when I was young, so I argue for It as much as I can whenever an opportunity shows itself. My parents are very protective of us, which I understand but… still. They're kids. They should get to play in the creek, right?"

"Absolutely," he was quick to agree, and she smiled again.

It felt weird, and a little blasphemous to walk besides a princess. He knew that if anyone saw he'd have to cover for himself quickly, making some kind of excuse for why he'd treat her so plainly. They had been in each other's company for hours now but being back in the castle had made it difficult to feel comfortable with it, and she seemed to understand that even if she pursed her lips.

He couldn't tell what she was thinking now, as they turned the final corner towards their rooms. The farther they got from the fields Nino noticed her stand straighter, laugh less, walk smoother. Like her whole being was pulled up and towards the castle with a sort of… inevitability to it. Or maybe he was reading into it too much… he overthought things a lot, but still. They both acted different, as they passed the company of other nobles and guards and he was forced to walk ahead, guarding them and waiting patiently as they exchanged curtsies and brief conversations. He looked on, standing stiffly as he watched Alya laugh at something someone more important than him had said.

But it didn't sound exactly right, not mischievous or teasing or anything like he had heard just a few hours ago. Just… polite. Proper.

Appropriate, for a princess.

He walked in front of her, guiding them to their rooms without comment or any more risked glances as they passed a few people more now that the day was turning towards indoor necessities. He wanted to talk to her again, for a handful of reasons, but as they closed the final distance he realized he'd have no time to. He didn't like that the last laugh he had heard was so… thin. But it wasn't his business to think one way or another about such things, and he was forced to walk in silence until he formally stepped to one side of the twin's door when they arrived. Alya gave him a nod to indicate he should wait, as she plucked the children from the hem of her dress and took them inside, vanishing from view.

Nino was left in the hall with a pair of other guards, neither of which spared him a glance as they guarded the royal chambers. He felt something like pride to be one of them, guarding the living spaces of the royal family, but it felt a little lack luster in comparison to leading them safely about their business.

Or catching rabbits, whatever they needed really.

Nino kept an eye on the hallway, diligently aware of all movement, but letting his mind wander as he waited. He was sort of reminiscing about how a 'guard' almost always is someone watching a door somewhere, or maybe a wall or in some cases a person, but it's just sort of sitting around and making sure other folks don't sit around and look at the thing you're looking at.

It's a 'hey mate this is a special door' kind of job. And this door here was very special, because it had very important people who were vulnerable to attack, so if you were going to be watching a door then out of all the doors this door was the one to be watching. Because something might happen with this door. Anything really.

…

Pretty boring, actually, Nino eventually thought to himself. He couldn't afford to get spoiled on interesting escort missions… this is what he had been doing for three months straight and was exactly what he was going to be asked to do as soon as he left the princesses charge for the night. His job was to be dangerous and stand in front of a door, that was about it.

Could be worse… but he was grateful for the change of pace the day had provided. Getting to feel so important for a second… standing tall like he was some kind of Knight, a _real_ Knight. It made watching doors feel so mundane in comparison, if it could get **any** duller than he already thought it was.

He was still mulling over his grievances when he heard Alya's voice just inside, heading towards the door as she commanded something of her sisters. Judging by the whines they were reluctant to listen, but he could hear her rebuttal clearly as she opened the door to leave.

"Listen to them now, you can't sleep with that dirt all over you. You wash your feet and change for the night, and be _nice_ about it for your maidens all right? Is that clear?"

Nino fought to keep a smile from his face as he heard the twins moan, Alya giving up and turning to face him with a slight huff.

With his back to the other guards Nino risked a sympathetic expression, quirking an eyebrow and shrugging slightly as if to say 'What can you do?'. Alya saw this and chuckled a little but turned away to say her final goodnights.

To Nino's surprise he got one as well, the twins leaning on their beds to be visible through the half-closed door, waving to him sleepily.

"Thank you, Sir Guard sir," Etta called to him in a small voice, "For the rabbits and for walking us and letting us go."

"Thank you for the bunnies Sir Guard, goodnight sir, thank you." Ella offered as well, grinning at him before she clutched her dirty feet and frowned at a round-faced maiden who was trying to clean her.

Nino was a little stunned, but he smiled, bowing. "Goodnight princesses, it was lovely to meet you."

He wanted to say more, but the three maidens inside were already tittering a little, asking the girls what they meant by 'the bunnies' as Alya closed the door and stepped away.

He straightened up, knowing now that he was soon to be dismissed as they started walking. She was only just down the hall, and he was a little sad to see the day close. However, he was under the impression that he had done a good job, and everyone seemed to like him so that was a relief.

He walked her to her door in silence, internally fretting over the fact that he was probably always going to be 'the farm boy' in her mind, but also pleased that he had earned some small place there for the day, in her attention.

Where he had come from, and who he had been before… he had never once thought he would be in the presence of royalty. He had also thought very differently of what royalty might be like. So far they were regal yes, and powerful as well, but the King had been kind. The young princesses were just children, and Alya?

She was unbreakable, and sharp and interesting. He wasn't sure what to make of her, but he thought of her jokes and her teasing when they were together on the hill and he knew it was nothing like what he expected a princess to be.

He much preferred it, actually.

They came to her door in no time at all, Nino turning smartly to attention as he awaited her dismissal. Dusk had faded now, and it was the torches that lent them light in the muted stone hallways, her royal highness looking up to regard him.

She didn't say anything for a moment, just standing there outside her chamber door, looking at him. Their only company were the same two guards, now a good way down the corridor nearer to the twins, and Nino seemed suddenly nervous, though he attempted not to look it.

It made her smile a little.

"Thank you for your service today," she said simply, her smile audible in her voice. After a moment she added, "And your company. It was a nice change from the others."

"I-uh," he froze a little, looking her in the face and again, a little stunned by her. She had this way about her, that in his mind he was forced to admit he had been wrong, at least a little. In this way, she was very much like a princess. The absolute command of attention.

After a short moment of floundering he bowed his head, speaking earnestly. "It was an honor, your highness. Thank you for, um, indulging me, I suppose."

When he looked up he saw some of that spark return to her eyes, the one he had lost somewhere in the castle since they arrived. Lost in all the hollow conversations and proper laughs and curtsies.

"If you looking after my little sisters for me counts as indulging then I'd spoil you rotten," she said with a smirk. Then she seemed a little more genuine. "They haven't had that much freedom to be kids in ages. And I got to relax a little as well so… thank you." She smiled. "I appreciate it."

There was a beat, and before he could think better of it, he said, "Any time, your highness."

She frowned a little, playfully though it looked like, and turned to open her door to her chambers. He glanced briefly inside, finding it already lit and made up in preparation for her, her handmaiden likely somewhere inside waiting for her to return. She stepped inside and she dropped the frown as she turned back to look at him, an eyebrow slightly raised.

He was frying a little, trying to figure out what he had said wrong, before it occurred to him as she dismissed him, a simple 'That will be all sir, thank you.' The last thing he might say to her, he corrected himself.

"Goodnight, Alya."

She had already started to turn away, but upon hearing her name she looked back at him, smiling happily again.

"Goodnight, farmboy," she answered in return, giving him a smirk when he made a face. He had no time to reply before the heavy oak door was shut, and he was abruptly alone with her departing line in the hall.

Professionally dismissed, but remembered.

Job done then… but he lingered for a moment.

And a moment more,

Before he shook his head, smothered his smile, and returned to his business. His business as a royal guard, feeling more official and in place then he had the entire summer for all his tiresome work. He had been congratulated, beat down, fought, tested, and patient, but now…

Nino held his head high, carrying her acknowledgment with him and letting it bolster him as he passed his fellow guards, earning their glances now as he marched confidently past. Now, he had fulfilled the higher part of his calling here, to be of service to the royal family should they call upon him, and things were different.

He'd do his dull work proudly, with a point to prove. He had nearly won over the guards through hard work and harsh reminders, with a good few enemies, but budding allies as well. He was aware, distantly, of this King's reminder that he had his attention, and now the princess as well seemed intent to keep her eye on him. He was a farm boy with the notice of the royal house, something he had no intention of squandering-…

His mind turned to the creek.

Suddenly his thoughts were in the wildflowers again, cramped and overheating but holding perfectly still, a bit over eager to make up for his wrong doing with the twins. He slowed on the stone steps, thinking again of the creek water in his boots as the eldest princess teased him, and it felt natural enough that he could roll his eyes. She laughed and he mumbled, and the twins celebrated his excellent tracking. They were little kids, and the princess, for a moment, was just a girl.

When he came back to the moment the torch lit stairway seemed cold in comparison, and his ambitions fell by the wayside as he slowly continued on his way.

That was important too, he decided.

He had a lot to prove, and a lot he wanted to be seen as, but he had ambitions to be close to the royals for another reason now. Their approval didn't just mean status it was… something else too. Something simple and good that seemed lost the more formal and practiced everything became.

He was new, he had been indulged only once and he had trouble articulating exactly what he wanted to do but…

He hoped they might call again, and he would have another chance. So that they'd be safe, so that he could do his job and do it well, but also, so that not all the little things got lost in the castle. Yeah.

Something like that.


	7. Chapter 7

Nino's job, when all was said and done, was exactly as he had defined it to be before.

His job was to be dangerous and stand in front of a door, and oh man was he standing in front of one right that very moment.

An important door. Nothing more important than important doors and deciding who was important enough to enter important doors, now that was important. Now surely he wasn't remotely important enough for this particular door but he sure was allowed to be watching it, and he was currently, right that second, watching the hell out of that door.

God damn he was so bored…

Nino shifted in place, repressing a sigh and trying not to resent the elegant stone hallway he waited in. He was very close to the center of the castle so the architecture was at its finest, the hall he was helping to watch was literally attached to the throne room so it was about as deep into the castle as one could get. Normally he'd be excited about this since it was clearly something big, but when he had made his way to his post he became aware of just how many guards had been called. The hall was very large and had a good amount of entrances, but even for all those entry points the number of guards had seemed large to him. Essentially his entire unit was present, so he was a little chagrined to realize the assignment was nothing special.

Still though, it was a little odd. It spoke to the sheer volume of important people who had been called to this meeting, and part of him fought off a vague sense of unease.

When they had first stood by and allowed entrance, he had watched noble after noble pass through, whispering hurriedly and wondering why they had been summoned, a few looking stoic and calm as if they already knew.

Again he wished he had been stationed inside instead of out here, and he suppressed another sigh. Eavesdropping was one of the perks of the job to be honest, he might not get to make any decisions but at least he got to listen to some of them. Unfortunately, fancy people were usually careful about exactly where their guards were, so even when they paced the hallways and passed him by at his various posts he only caught bits and pieces, never enough to interest him.

It was drilled into the royal guards repeatedly that doing anything with any information you might happen to overhear was treason, and of course Nino had no genuine intentions behind knowing anything, but it was human to wonder. Something to think about other than doors at least.

It had been a little less than two weeks since his escort mission with the princesses, and though he had really tried his best not to expect anything fun he was dying for something interesting again. He had been pushed back to door duty like he had expected once he returned, getting congratulated by his Captain for seeming like he did a pretty good job but not giving him anything better really. He was off the guest rooms at least and had a little more variety than normal, but it was usually doors. Patrol once! But mostly doors.

It wasn't all dull and he still felt a lot of pride in his job, but he kept reflecting on that huge pinnacle of pride he had felt marching through the gates, bearing his seal and standing tall above the others, even just for a second. He was back to his normal armor and his normal places but he had a taste for it now and he was looking desperately for more opportunities to prove himself. Still though, he had been lucky for even that one shot, he had a feeling he was going to have to be patient.

He had seen the Princess twice since then, though she hadn't seen him. They weren't always required to wear their helmets inside the castle since it mostly just served to restrict vision, but one of the times she had passed him he had been forced to be wearing it. Some fancy someone had been visiting and seeing guards at the entrance with all the bits and pieces was impressive, he guessed, made them all look more uniform, but it meant that she had missed him. Not like she should have been looking for him, or like she might have even noticed but still, he had been essentially invisible in a line of identical copies as she went out with her father to greet whoever it was. Earl of whatever, he hadn't really been paying attention.

The second time he hadn't been wearing a helmet, or any of his armor actually, and she had missed him again. He had no chance of standing out that time, not like she did, and her gaze had passed right over him.

He had been in town in plain clothes for his own purposes, enjoying some time off and spending a little money he wasn't used to having yet. He had just bought a toy for his little brother he thought he might like and had been heading back to the castle to either send it or store it until he might see him again, when he got caught up in a large crowd around the castle gate. It didn't take long to figure that she had caused the disturbance, people of the kingdom calling out to their princess as she made a brief appearance of some kind. She was swarmed with guards obviously and far from the people she waved to, but he thought that she must still enjoy it. He imagined it must be pretty nice to have people crowd to you and call out to you adoringly, but as her eyes passed over him and cast out over all of the people who stood there he thought, maybe not. She stood tall and beautiful and separated, unable to pick out any of the faces or know their names.

There were parts to both sides, he supposed.

He had seen the twins only once, and they had actually been close enough to notice him. They were together, like always, walking obediently behind a pair of handmaidens taking them off for some lesson somewhere. He had been guarding a boring door during a boring day and was actually starting to space out a little when he turned at the sound of someone approaching, waking up instantly to see the two little girls.

It felt kind of silly, but he wanted them to notice him, sad when he saw how quiet and orderly they appeared. They were just children, but not here he guessed, not when their backs were pulled up and straight by the draw of the castle.

They were perfectly practiced, and as they started to pass by him he knew he didn't have much time to do anything, or even really have the opportunity to. However right as they were walking by, the senior guard he was paired with straightened to attention and gave a formal salute in acknowledgment. Nino quickly copied him, thrilled when Etta looked up at the movement and looked over them both. As soon as her eyes landed on him he gave her his warmest and friendliest smile, and a little nod of his head for good measure.

He couldn't deny the warmth that shot through him when she recognized him, her face lighting up and smiling back instantly. She waved at him and he risked a little wave too, and another for Ella when her sister got her attention. They only had a brief moment, unable to stop or slow but they told him good morning and said his name, and he said good morning as well. They looked over their shoulders for awhile once they passed him, glancing back a few times more as they walked the long hallway. They whispered to each other and smiled at a memory, hopping a little as they went. And suddenly they were children again.

He smiled thinking about it, trying to focus on his appointed stone hallway but distracting himself. It had made him wonder at what Alya might have done if she had seen him, that she might smile at the memory too. Her teasing goodnight hung in his mind and he shifted his weight again, aware of the fact that she was somewhere inside.

It must be really important then, this meeting. The King and Queen were both in attendance, as well as the entirety of the council and their board of advisers. Alya had entered with her parents from another entrance, he had just heard of them being there from the less important important people who came through his door. He couldn't imagine the twins being allowed though, not if it was something tense or gruesome.

Nino turned at a sound, any change at all enough to catch his attention when his post was so monotonous. He saw the guard appointed on the other side turn as well, both of them aware suddenly of a distant shouting from inside. Nino barely had time to shoot the other guard a look before a whole rabble of voices picked up in response, a whole crowd of people abruptly trying to be heard. There was a loud booming voice above all others, and then suddenly there was quiet, the room returning to its state of discussion in an instant and he knew that this must be the king.

The other guard raised an eyebrow, making a slight face of 'yeesh' before leaning back, both of them returning to their stance but still straining to listen.

It was completely impossible to hear any words, not even when a single voice shouted out in disgust, but the tone none the less worried him. He tried to just mind his business, but his thoughts turned to Adrien. He was definitely inside as well and he wondered if he would tell him if he asked… probably not though. Not like it was any worry of his.

He had managed to see Adrien once so far, and it had been honestly incredible. He had stolen a moment of his time during the night, going to his room after his last shift had ended. He had been in his room alone like he said he would be and seemed ecstatic to see him though he tried to hide it at first. He was quick to give some half-assed pretense to his own guard who was stationed outside and rushed him in, and the moment they were clear he dropped all formality like he did whenever they were alone.

He had clasped him warmly on the shoulder and ran off to grab him a drink, surprising him with his eagerness as they found a moment to just be people, like Adrien sought so desperately. It was a little difficult at first, but again Adrien's genuine nature always got the better of him. It never took long for him to forget that they were from utterly different places, even as they discussed their differences. They talked about farming and castles and cities and people. They discussed home and harvests and horses and wine, and they talked about fighting too. Nino was unsurprised to learn that Adrien had extensive training as a swordsman, having briefly saw his skill first hand when they had met in the woods what seemed like years ago now though it was only in reality a handful of months.

It had been forced to be brief, but it felt important, and good. It was nice that from the very beginning he had someone who was wholly on his side.

Now though Adrien was alone with whatever was burdening the state, but there was nothing he could do for that. He could listen but he doubted Adrien would speak, and suddenly he hated that he could give so little to him in return. Nearly nothing, except maybe friendship… from time to time.

They were all so far from him. And he was as close as he figured he would ever be. Closer than a farmhand at least, but more distant that a friend.

He could only be so much.

… but that wasn't that sort of the point of all this?

Nino frowned to himself as he stared out at nothing, only servants in sight as they waited to enter since the meeting was surely drawing to a close. He tightened his grip on his spear and grappled with himself, wondering again just how many rules he was daring to break here. Even his place at this damn door was a risk as far as societal norms were concerned, though for the most part that scandal had simmered down. Still, he should just be happy. And he was! He was grateful, but time and again he found himself wanting more, and wanting to do more and be more. He wanted to be a friend to a lonely prince, and he had already done a lot to be things he shouldn't so why not? Isn't that why he had snuck off to see him in the first place?

Ugh.

He was going to get hanged one day.

Nino snapped out of his grumbling commentary at the approach of a murmur, a budding sound building up inside the hall. The other guard he was with turned to face him and Nino mirrored him quickly, preparing to stand by as the nobles cleared the room.

The doors were opened by another luckier pair of guards from inside, both of them a higher rank than he or his companion. Promotions came with the cooler gossip, he supposed.

All four guards stood by in their various positions as people much wealthier than him filed out, and suddenly his perfectly memorized boring stone hallway was crowded with men. Some were old, a few were young, and all of them seemed…

Nino looked around, trying to keep the movement subtle so as not to stick out, but slowly scanning the faces he saw, noting how all of them appeared… unsettled. They all seemed keen to whisper but kept it tucked inside, waiting for another moment alone to discuss things too important for unimportant people to overhear.

Nino refocused as more disconcerted council members shuffled past him, all of them without exception engrossed in thought or some raging emotion they were keeping to themselves. Though the crowd was thick it was eerily devoid of talking, and Nino felt unease crawl beneath his armor.

Another man shifted in discomfort, though the burden he bore on his shoulders was not weighted in chain mail. Instead it was sagged with the mantle he carried, and his neck ached with the ghost of a crown he could not forget.

The Good King sighed, allowing himself a slight expression of frustration, if nothing more. He reached up a weary hand and held his face for a moment, looking at nothing and thinking of everything.

"Why do I feel like the more people who talk the less anything happens…" he heard his daughter mutter nearby, definitely intended for him to overhear and a much deeper sigh built in his chest before his queen spoke for him.

"The voices of the council matter Alya-,"

"Of course they do, the council I have no problem with. It's the ten men speaking for one opinion each that takes up so much time," Otis looked up in time to see his daughter sat with her back straight defiantly, matching her mother's gaze. "How many times do we have to listen to these people repeat themselves? We have said nothing new!"

"Alya!"

"The entire meeting! That entire meeting was three things said five hours ago and a hundred iterations on each!"

"That's enough," Otis spoke pointedly, and though Alya's mouth was open she hesitated, and slowly closed it.

He watched her for awhile more, Marlena looking between them both before standing. She silently fixed her deep purple gown and stepped away, leaving the King with his daughter alone for a moment, the hall deserted except for a few trusted guards.

Otis watched her carefully and was unsure of how he felt about the way that Alya challenged him, refusing to look away even if she remained silent like he had ordered. Defiant in what ways she could be, and he couldn't decide if he was proud of that or not.

"I understand your frustration Alya," he said after a while, the first to look away as he usually was between them. "I was always the same, and clearly in some ways I still am. It's frustrating to go through these paces, but even if the people echo each other we have to listen to each. All of them deserve a chance to speak, and we can not proceed until we have heard them."

"I know that…" she said slowly, her understanding at war with her impatience, and he understood that too.

"Then exercise it. It is necessary now, soon we won't have the time to be patient. We must listen while we can listen."

The lull in conversation was thick with energy, and Otis was bracing himself for whatever Alya had brimming up from beneath the surface of her obedience, when the sound of a heavy door swinging open distracted them both and suddenly he had two incoming targets.

The connecting entrance to the throne room had been opened wide, allowing two little princesses to barrel inside from where they had been playing together with their handmaidens. They stormed by their mother who had gone to let them in, bringing a sudden and desperately needed warmth to the grim hall they wallowed in.

Ella ran forward to climb into her father's lap, her sister doing the same to Alya who seemed to accept that for now at least her time to argue had been lost. Otis was sure he had not heard the last of her opinions, but by his own advice he knew it was important to hear her too. Just hopefully when she was prepared to be a little more constructive.

Otis lifted up one of his youngest and allowed himself to be distracted by relief, glad to have his family here with him. He had more discussions on this matter to endure, but for now he could just indulge the babble of his twins, preferring this din to the one that had previously dominated the hall. He gently wrangled a wayward lock of his daughter's hair back into place as she spoke, ignoring her probing questions about the meeting and asking her instead about her games.

The twins took the bait easily, dropping the subject of their failed eavesdropping without much persuading. Alya was still ruminating quietly but did not shrug off her mother's gentle hand when she came up behind her.

It took Marlena a little effort, seeing as Otis was happy to remain where he was, but after a few gentle pushes she managed to get both Alya and Otis to their feet, the two of them carrying a twin each as she gently guided them to their rooms for some genuine alone time. She did not have much more time to see her husband before he was called away for more arguing, and she wasn't willing to lose this moment just yet.

Their group moved together towards the side entrance, choosing the most direct path to their rooms instead of the way they had come and allowing their guards to converge and trail behind them, more up ahead standing to the side to allow them to pass. They passed over the cold stone floor and yearned for the warm sunlight their sheltered walk back would give them, and would have been content in their family's quiet moment had an eager little nine-year-old not suddenly shouted,

"Hello Nino!"

The King looked down at his daughter in his arms with confusion, following her distraction and about to remind her to be polite when he spotted the guard she was practically falling out of his arms to wave at, and the poor guy looked like he was going to fry.

Nino was stood less than five feet away from the entire royal family, having been taken by surprise because he was kind of spacing out, but standing at electrified attention when he realized that the King and Queen would be passing through his watch. He had already been on full alert, straightening himself to stand as tall and firm as he could to look as impressive as the guards around who outranked him. He hated that he had done nothing to fix his appearance and resented that he was not dressed in full armor, having not anticipated their proximity at all. But this?

This was way, way worse.

Nino was stood ramrod straight as Ella excitedly greeted him, Etta now leaning over as well and calling to him too. From behind the great stature of the King he was aware of Alya sliding into view, noting him with a smile that quickly evolved into a smirk as soon as she saw how caught out he looked.

There was a moment where he did nothing, the **King** and now _**Queen**_ fully regarding him where he stood, all of them looking at him while he just totally stood there, frozen.

It was the slight hesitation in Ella's wave that broke him out of it, his heart torn between refusing to move and saying something back, cause was he supposed to? The rule was speak when spoken to wasn't it? So-…

"H-hello Your Highness," he answered quickly, Ella's face lighting up when he acknowledged her. He tore his eyes away from the powerful presence of the King and smiled as best as he was capable. He gave another to Etta, too scared to risk a wave but bowed instead, sparing another 'Your Highness'. He thought he might be allowed to lapse into silence, but then Alya spoke up suddenly as well, clearly expecting her own.

"Hello Nino," she greeted him, smiling as he bowed but only because he seemed so uncomfortable, not for any desire for formality.

"Hello Your Highness," he said again, getting hung up on a 'Nice to see you again' or anything else and deciding to say nothing more. It took everything he had not to squirm, the Queen assessing him and asking her oldest present,

"Do you know this guard?"

They were all still stood in the doorway, the other guards getting tense at the proximity as well and Nino could see them shooting each other glances behind Alya's back, probably wondering what was happening just like he was.

"Yes Mother," Alya supplied happily, her smile audible in her voice. "Do you remember our trip out into the field a few weeks ago? Nino was assigned as our personal escort, he made quite an impression." Alya then stage whispered without really trying to hide anything, saying so that even he could hear, "Do you remember that bunny story the twins were telling?"

"Bunny story?" The King echoed aloud, and Nino thought he might collapse on the spot. To his absolutely profound relief however the Queen did not acknowledge her husbands questioning look, instead turning towards Nino with recognition.

"Oh yes! My daughters spoke of you, the guard who came from the territories. My husband mentioned you as well, I had wondered how you've been doing. It is nice to finally meet you."

Nino wasn't sure what he looked like in the moment, looking into the Queen's face and affronted with a powerful intimidation but also… admiration. The Queen was lovely and powerful, looking him in the eye and not shying away. She looked every bit like her children, but also holding a grace that they did not yet have, an elegant purple and gold dress cascading around her and trailing slightly on the stone floor.

The Queen's gaze was an intense and unwavering as her daughter's, and though he was taller than her he felt infinitely small in comparison. Still though, she smiled gently and greeted him with interest, like two people passing in a hallway.

"I-it's an honor, Your Majesty, to meet you," he barely managed, bowing as deeply as he was capable of.

He could hear Alya's tittering laugh though he dare not look away from the Queen, and he was sure he looked pathetic in the moment, so desperate to be viewed as impressive as the others but sure he was failing. Then again, he didn't see any of them getting talked to.

The King hummed suddenly, wrangling his daughter back into place in his arms. Ella looked up at her father, asking innocently, "Can he come with us? I want to ask him things."

"Yes! Like, have you done anything fun?" Etta piped up.

"Have you found anything new?"

"What were you doing?"

Nino wasn't entirely sure whether or not he was expected to respond when the King quietly corrected, "He is working right now my dear. Don't distract the guards from their duties."

Ella pouted as the King stepped forward, making it clear he intended to enforce the sentiment, even if he himself looked entertained.

The Queen laughed a little as her family started to head out again, sure the guard would appreciate a little room to breathe from underneath their attention. However she did not miss the warm, yet nervous smile he gave to her daughters, nor the tiny wave goodbye he risked when he thought she wasn't looking.

The twins were beaming over the shoulder of their father and sister, and though she only glanced back once Alya was smiling too, noticing her mother watching her and looking forward down the corridor.

Marlena could hear the guards whispering as they left, no doubt interrogating the new guy about what had transpired, though she hardly thought it was gossip worthy. The new recruit was hurriedly defending himself, and she had to restrain a chuckle as they finally moved out of earshot.

She turned her attention forward again, enjoying the sight of Ella sitting up in her father's arms telling a story as he just stared at her in amusement.

Etta took turns telling it with her sister as they walked, Alya occasionally nodding her head in confirmation whenever her father looked over at her in confusion.

However to all of their surprise the King eventually frowned.

"He sounds easily distracted," the King muttered, and Marlena watched as Alya suddenly jumped in, instantly defending him.

"He was alert the entire time father, it's why he even went with them. He played with them so he could keep a closer eye on them without ruining their fun, and he wasn't too proud to do it like some of the others may have been. He wanted to make them happy while not compromising their safety, that's what you want from the guard isn't it?"

"Yes!" Etta agreed from her sister's arms. "He said we could play as long as we let him play too, he didn't make us stop. We found the whole family of rabbits again because he helped."

"And he gave them such a nice memory," Marlena added in defense, matching her husbands unsure glance backwards with a slight shrug.

"Hm…" the king hummed again, looking down at Ella as she continued to squirm in his grasp.

"He was very nice to us. I like him."

"Are the other guards not being nice to you?"

"No they are. But…," Ella paused thoughtfully, nodding as she said, "He's nicer. He smiles more."

Otis hesitated, then decided to say nothing, mulling this over as the twins drifted towards new topics. They did not notice their father's distraction, as he distantly replayed the shouting and the nothingness of the meeting they slowly left behind them.

His steps felt loud to him, in the corridor.

Heavy.

He thought of those five repeated grating arguments, and accepted that the world around their gentle home was growing more dangerous, more restless. And for his daughters, he wanted them to be happy and safe, chasing pleasant memories of rabbits burrowed in a field before they were too old. Before they were forced to listen in frustration like Alya.

As much as he could let them play he would… without risking them. He and the farmboy were alike, in that way.

—

 **"** **NINO LAHIFFE! "**

The name was shouted so loud, and so suddenly, that Nino nearly sliced his hand open in a fountain of blood, the sword he was cleaning jerking away from him as he jumped and clattering loudly to the stone floor of his chamber. One of the other guys he shared it with was in there too, sitting on his bed across from him, frozen stock still and staring at him fearfully.

Nino's heart was instantly racing as the captain's voice echoed through the guard rooms, and he knew she knew he was in there, and he had absolutely no idea what he had done wrong.

When she yelled his name a second time he scrambled to his feet, skittering into the hallway and nervously barking a reply. "Y-yes Captain!"

The plain stone chambers of the guard were uncharacteristically full, many of the simple wooden doors swinging open so the fellow members of his unit could poke their head out and look at him, and then the captain. However, as soon as they saw the fiery woman stood at the end of the hall with her armored hands planted firmly on her hips they instantly retreated, leaving the new guy to die.

There was a pretty decent handful of frightened looking men behind her as well, a couple gauging whether or not they could make it to their rooms before anything happened but too scared to pass her.

The short woman said nothing else, just standing there in the main chamber at the mouth of the hallway, waiting for him.

She watched him cooly as he approached, Nino unable to keep himself from glancing at her weapon which was, for the moment, still sheathed. He had never seen her without her armor on before and now was no exception, her entire visage terrifying and he was racking his brain for why he was in so much trouble right now.

He stopped about eight feet away from her, hands tight to his side as he stood at attention.

"Why, the hell, is it Lahiffe," she finally spoke, "That I keep hearing your name, everywhere I go?"

Nino paled slightly, managing a weak and questioning, "Ma'am?"

"For having no solid name I sure have been hearing about it a lot, far more than a member of the guard should be getting mentioned by anybody." She paused for effect, crossing her arms. "Let alone the Royal Family."

She examined his expression, unsurprised to see wild confusion running rampant. So she continued, staring him down and speaking firmly.

"You've been making noise, and I don't know what you've been doing but you're sticking out and I can't really make up my mind whether or not I think that's a good thing. Only thing I can think of is that special assignment I gave you and now, all of a sudden, I keep catching your name. Even though we've done hundreds of these types of jobs Lahiffe, every single day, for the first time since I've had this rank," she paused, drawing in a deep breath and freezing him solid with a look, "I've gotten a _request._ "

"…request? Ma'am?" he said fearfully.

"Yeah. A request. For you.

From the **King.** "


End file.
